🚨 How do we move beyond tracking individual incidents to understanding how influence actually works? A new report w/ @disinfo.eu @checkfirst.network @viginum.bsky.social, Cassini, @diplo.de @eudiplomacy.bsky.social offers a framework to analyze #FIMI at the operational level. 🔗 bit.ly/49UtAkx

Spoke to the Washington Post for this article about @dfrlab.bsky.social’s research into the online chaos that followed Maduro’s capture.

🤖🇻🇪 Following #MadurosCapture, Chinese state-linked actors pushed a deliberate narrative online: the US is an destabilizing hegemon while Beijing is a defender of international law. @kentonthibaut.bsky.social unpacks the digital narrative battle fueled by memes & AI: bit.ly/49xWLIZ

Russia and China have launched influence operations to quickly capitalize on controversy — this time surrounding the U.S. operation to seize the Venezuelan president — by spreading conspiracy theories and disingenuous content, researchers said.

#ICYMI: @washingtonpost.com reports on how foreign actors reframed the Venezuela operation globally, drawing on new insights from DFRLab's @laylam.bsky.social @buziashvili.bsky.social @kentonthibaut.bsky.social & @nosumacero.bsky.social 🇻🇪

Russia’s influence networks didn’t wait. Within hours of #NicolásMadurosCapture, pro-Kremlin actors launched coordinated narratives aimed at diluting US credibility online. 🔎 Analysis from @buziashvili.bsky.social tracks how it unfolded: bit.ly/4aOM5YI

Delcy Rodríguez's role as Venezuela's acting president is an impossible balancing act: satisfy Trump's demands, maintain support from the Chavista coalition, and keep alliances with China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia. www.atlanticcouncil.org/dispatches/d... @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social

🇻🇪 A new @washingtonpost.com exclusive spotlights how Russia & China launched coordinated influence campaigns after #NicolásMadurosCapture, drawing on DFRLab insight from @nosumacero.bsky.social @buziashvili.bsky.social @kentonthibaut.bsky.social & @laylam.bsky.social: wapo.st/4qch5qj

My team at the @dfrlab.bsky.social put this together after the insurrection, analyzing all the #stopthesteal data we had been tracking since the previous September.

2026 is just getting started, but the information threats we’re facing didn’t begin this year. Before looking ahead, here’s what the DFRLab learned in 2025...and why those lessons matter now: bit.ly/4pvwTmX

What comes after #Maduro? 🇻🇪 Join the @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social on Jan 6 for expert insights on Venezuela’s path forward featuring @nosumacero.bsky.social, Senior Research Fellow at the DFRLab's Democracy+Tech Initiative. Register now: bit.ly/4jrcjmp

My colleagues at the @dfrlab.bsky.social look at how inauthentic social media activity exploits political and security events to seed division between Poland and Ukraine:

The DFRLab has long tracked the digital means that aided in Venezuela's descent into autocracy. As Venezuela enters a pivotal moment, it is worth revisiting how Maduro weaponized digital tools. See 2024 report: "Venezuela: A Playbook for Digital Repression” www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-res...

I’ll be moderating this discussion on Wednesday on lessons from Moldova’s elections. Anyone who cares about information or election integrity should be closing watching what is unfolding in Moldova.

Join us today @ 8:30 AM ET | 2:30 PM CET for key lessons from Moldova’s 2025 elections w/ DFRLab's @buziashvili.bsky.social @victoriaolari.bsky.social & @laylam.bsky.social bit.ly/49cY1lG

📅 Dec 17 | 8:30 AM ET What can #Moldova2025Elections teach us about countering foreign information manipulation? Join DFRLab’s @victoriaolari.bsky.social & @buziashvili.bsky.social for a discussion and report launch under the FIMI ISAC’s FDEI project: bit.ly/49cY1lG

🇲🇩 Facing dynamically evolving propaganda threats, Moldova’s information space is under sustained pressure. Our latest report w/ INFO OPS Poland examines how foreign actors exploit polarization & media fragmentation to shape public opinion bit.ly/4pV46cj

🇨🇦In Toronto, the DFRLab joined @globalaffairs.canada.ca’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM Canada) & @utoronto.ca for the G7 Digital Transnational Repression Detection Academy Symposium launching a new initiative, strengthening how G7+ partners detect & counter digital transnational repression.

🇺🇦 Despite developing remarkable resilience since 2014, #Ukraine’s information space remains deeply contested. Our latest report w/ INFO OPS Poland shows how years of conflict have reshaped the information environment: bit.ly/4pypCDt

🇦🇲Our latest report under #ProjectMUGA w/ INFO OPS Poland Foundation digs into the fault lines that make Armenia especially vulnerable to foreign influence, and how Russia is exploiting this moment of political and social transition. Read now: bit.ly/4peZ0XH

📅Today @ 9AM ET Join the Democracy+Tech Initiative as we explore how digital identity is reshaping governance across Africa: bit.ly/3K4IPxk Have questions for the panelists? Visit askac.org to share your insight 💬

📅Nov 19 @ 9AM | Digital identity systems are transforming governance across Africa while raising big questions about privacy, inclusion & power. Join DFRLab's Democracy+Tech Initiative as we explore how digital identity is reshaping governance, elections & rights across the continent bit.ly/3K4IPxk

Congratulations to the entire team at @dfrlab.bsky.social for the release of "Authoritarian reach and democratic response: A tactical framework to counter and prevent transnational repression (TNR)."

#TransnationalRepression is reshaping how authoritarian regimes project power & target critics abroad. @marcuskolga.bsky.social @imleeszefung.bsky.social @kentonthibaut.bsky.social @nosumacero.bsky.social & @lisandranovo.bsky.social introduce a framework to counter these operations: bit.ly/3Xgfz9I

Grokipedia sounds way too much like the pro-Kremlin Wikipedia knockoff Runiversalis, which @buziashvili.bsky.social and I wrote about for @dfrlab.bsky.social in 2022. dfrlab.org/2022/09/01/p...

Almost as large as the 2023 Russian TikTok operation @dfrlab.bsky.social and BBC Verify uncovered targeting former Ukrainian Def Min Oleksii Reznikov, though arguably more sophisticated, as the Moldova op used full-blown AI-generated videos rather than AI-generated voiceover audio.

⏳ Loading… The DFRLab’s #DigitalSherlocks program is preparing for its next chapter 🔎 After a pause, we are excited to share that the program will return in 2026. For future announcements and updates, subscribe to the DFRLab’s #TheSource: bit.ly/47qKvKp

Today @dfrlab.bsky.social published an investigation into REST, a newly launched “media outlet” targeting Moldova ahead of its elxn. Our forensic analysis shows REST’s infrastructure and workflow is linked to milblogger channel Rybar, whose creator is sanctioned by the EU dfrlab.org/2025/09/23/s...

🚨With #MoldovanElections around the corner, the information war is in full swing. The DFRLab has tracked the operations in play... here are 5 investigations to know before the Sept 28 vote 👇

20 years ago, the WSIS captured lightning in a bottle. Now, with the WSIS+20 review on the horizon, the stakes for global digital governance are higher than ever. DTI’s @kkomaitis.bsky.social calls this a pivotal moment for the internet’s future: bit.ly/4lTlvQL

First Telegram bots. Now TikTok. DFRLab exposes how Kremlin-aligned influencers are using #TikTok’s audiovisual power to sell a “revived” #Mariupol, portraying Russian rule as peaceful, and discrediting Ukraine. 📱 New from Iryna Adam: bit.ly/4m51g2e

🇨🇴 Colombia’s oldest guerrilla group the #ELN, has quietly built a digital empire across X, Meta, and more. Uncover how they've evaded platform bans, while spreading Kremlin-backed narratives & building an "alternative media" brand identity: 🔎: bit.ly/3GPNqC4

The latest report from the DFRLab & OpenMinds, pulls back the curtain on a Telegram-based operation that quietly supported Russia’s occupation of Ukraine...one comment at a time 🇺🇦📱 Read the full report: bit.ly/4lz2nHx Summary: bit.ly/3GRVamS

🎥 LIVE NOW Join the DFRLab, OpenMinds and @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social Eurasia Center as we launch a new report on how 3,600+ fake Telegram accounts quietly shaped narratives in Ukraine’s occupied territories. Watch live: t.co/117jalV1Tc

An influence operation that didn’t go viral...but didn’t have to. Join us July 16 as we launch a new report w/ OpenMinds & AC Eurasia Center on how 3,600+ fake Telegram accounts quietly shaped narratives in occupied Ukraine. Live at 10 a.m. ET: bit.ly/4lWqnEw

A recent analysis by the Atlantic Council’s @dfrlab.bsky.social reveals that Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok played a problematic role in spreading disinformation during the early days of the Israel-Iran conflict.

What does modern occupation look like online? 🤖 Join the DFRLab, OpenMinds & Eurasia Center on July 16 at 10:00a.m. for a live discussion on how pro-Russian Telegram bots flooded Ukrainian channels w/ messages simulating support for occupation: bit.ly/4lDuLrQ

In this week's episode of the Active Measure Newsletter's podcast I was invited to discuss the content of our joint investigation with @dfrlab.bsky.social and @checkfirst.network on the Pravda Network and the consequences of the poisoning of LLMs & the targeting of Wikipedia omny.fm/shows/active...

War through Grok-tinted glasses? 🤖 As tensions escalated between Israel & Iran, X's #Grok became an unlikely narrator of the war—often getting it wrong. DFRLab's @estebanpdl.bsky.social analyzed 130k+ posts to uncover how the AI amplified confusion in conflict's early days: bit.ly/3FULvvB

A deepfake video of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney went viral on TikTok and X. Despite being labeled, fact-checked, and eventually removed, the claims in the video continued to be amplified, illustrating how AI-generated disinformation persists. dfrlab.org/2025/06/19/d... @dfrlab.bsky.social

HAPPENING NOW: Join Vint Cerf, Anriette Esterhuysen, Jason Pielemeier, and Chengetai Masango as they explore the IGF’s legacy—and why defending an open internet is more urgent than ever 🛜 🔗Livestream: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wQM...

There’s still time to register! Join the Democracy + Tech Initiative on June 12 at 9:00a.m. for a conversation on why @intgovforum.bsky.social matters now more than ever. 🔗Registration: bit.ly/3SCO9J6

What role should the UN’s IGF play in a rapidly changing digital world? 💻🌐 On June 12 at 9:00a.m. join Vint Cerf, @anriette.bsky.social, Jason Pielemeier, @chengetai.bsky.social, and @kkomaitis.bsky.social as they explore the forum’s next chapter: bit.ly/3SCO9J6

Why does the UN’s @intgovforum.bsky.social still matter 20 years on? 🌐 Join us June 12 at 9am ET as Vint Cerf, Anriette Esterhuysen, Jason Pielemeier, and Chengetai Masango, explore the IGF’s legacy—and why defending an open internet is more urgent than ever. 🔗 Register: bit.ly/3SCO9J6 #IGF2025

⚠️ New Report: Banned, yet Broadcasting Belarusian state media is trying to discredit the Polish Presidential elections and amplify candidates across social media. Today, we publish this report w @dfrlab.bsky.social and the Political Accountability Foundation. alliance4europe.eu/banned-yet-b...

🇵🇱🚨NEW: Belarusian state media is working to discredit #Poland2025Elections by amplifying candidates on #TikTok, #YouTube, #X & #Facebook while actively circumventing EU sanctions. DFRLab, Political Accountability Foundation & @alliance4europe.bsky.social reveal how: bit.ly/43rRIGM

🇷🇴 From Bucharest to Chisinau 🇲🇩 : Ahead of Romania's 2025 election, DFRLab's @victoriaolari.bsky.social traces the rise of Presidential candidate #GeorgeSimion...and the pro-Kremlin actors helping pave his path. 🔗 bit.ly/4j7Hf9p

Paid influencer campaigns aren’t just limited to brands deals 🤳 DFRLab uncovered a coordinated campaign lead by South African influencers for hire targeting President Zelenskyy after he declined a #RussianVictoryDay ceasefire. 🔗 bit.ly/43hIblJ

🇦🇿 🇬🇪 Politicians & pro-gov Azerbaijani media are repackaging anti-Western rhetoric emerging from Georgia. @ggigitashvili.bsky.social explores how #Azerbaijan’s coverage of tensions between the West & #Georgia indicate growing ideological alignment. 🔗 dfrlab.org/2025/03/26/h...

Post-Trump, senior EU officials and national lawmakers are now more willing to use all levers of the EU project—including regulation—to overtly favor national companies and promote Europe’s wider geopolitical interests over foreign companies’ and other countries’ tech ambitions, writes Mark Scott: