When protests broke out across Iran in December 2025, the regime responded with more than force, it launched a coordinated propaganda campaign framing the protests as foreign-instigated "riots." isdglobal.org/digital-dispatch/axis-of-amplification

When Islamic State detainees escaped detention camps in Syria last month, the group's sprawling digital ecosystem mobilized fast—rallying support, spreading content, and exploiting the chaos across platforms, apps and fringe outlets. ⬇️

Four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is clear the information battlefield has been central and expansive. Within the first two years of the conflict, our analysis had already sounded the alarm on how the Kremlin worked to erode international support for Kyiv. → bit.ly/4aNQxVZ ⬇️

Online communities promoting misanthropic violence without a clear ideology represent one of the most troubling trends ISD's analysts are monitoring. ⬇️

Ukraine isn’t Europe’s only battlefield 🇪🇺 Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, adversarial states have carried out sabotage, drone incursions & assassinations at a greater scale across the EU. No country is immune—& others, including China, Iran & even new players, could follow. More below.

ISD Director Katherine Keneally spoke at the Major County Sheriffs of America 2026 Policy Conference on Friday, February 6 in Washington, D.C. ⬇️

Amelia, an AI-generated schoolgirl from a UK counter-extremism game, has been co-opted online as a far-right meme, inspiring viral edits & a cryptocurrency as users repurpose the character’s image & tone for political messaging. ISD’s Sid Venkataramakrishnan speaks to CNN & The Guardian below.

New ISD research reveals a surge in violent online rhetoric toward US lawmakers, with the number of threats tripling since 2021. POLITICO first reported on ISD’s findings and interviewed ISD CEO Sasha Havlicek to discuss this dangerous phenomenon. 🔽

Violent online threats against US lawmakers have tripled since 2021 according to new ISD research, spiking after major political events such as the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Most threats came from partisan individuals and not from organized extremist groups. . More below ⬇️

Shortly into the new year, Venezuelans awoke to the news that President Nicolás Maduro had been detained by US forces in a pre-dawn raid. Within hours Russia, China, and Iran moved to seize on the moment—pushing anti-US narratives across state media and diplomatic channels. 🔽

YouTube’s algorithm is often blamed for pushing young men toward extremist or harmful content. ISD research suggests a more mundane reality: using test personas, we found most recommendations aligned with users’ existing interests, with only modest shares in other masculine topics. More below ⬇️

YouTube’s algorithm is often blamed for pushing young men toward extremist or harmful content. ISD research suggests a more mundane reality: using test personas, we found most recommendations aligned with users’ existing interests, with only modest shares in other masculine topics. More below ⬇️

The misogyny-fueled ‘Manosphere’ in Central & Eastern Europe spreads on mainstream platforms, and often overlaps with anti-immigrant and other hateful narratives, potentially creating pathways into broader extremist movements. Read ISD's latest report below. www.isdglobal.org/isd-publicat...

Gen-Z has reshaped violent extremism online, where radicalisation unfolds across gaming platforms, short-form video & encrypted spaces. A recent ThePrint piece draws on ISD research to show how ideological fluidity now defines youth radicalisation, complicating traditional counter-terrorism models.

The 2003 Casablanca terrorist attacks marked a turning point for Morocco, triggering wide-ranging religious and state reforms that gave rise to a new national religious infrastructure known as “Moroccan Islam”. www.isdglobal.org/isd-publicat...

2025InReview | In December, we announced that the Institute for Strategic Dialogue-US (ISD-US) and the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) will merge under the ISD-US banner on January 1, 2026. 🔽

2025InReview | False flag conspiracy theories are nothing new, but they’re more prominent than ever. An ISD Dispatch revealed an astronomical spike in false flag narratives, with analysts finding an increase of more than 1,100 percent over the past five years. 🔽

2025InReview | A Netflix hit about a schoolgirl’s murder by a 13-year-old boy may have sparked a spike in activity on the world’s biggest incel forum. 🔽

#2025InReview | 764 is a sextortion network which coerces minors into producing Child Sexual Abuse Material and then uses the content to force them into the unimaginable. 🔽

#2025InReview | Meta overhauled its content moderation approach in early 2025. Facebook, Instagram, and Threads no longer rely on third-party fact-checkers. Instead they are moving towards voluntary, user-driven moderation, modeled on X’s Community Notes. 🔽

#2025InReview | A study by ISD found that searches on Google, Yahoo, and Bing for terms like “deepnude,” “nudify,” and “undress app” led users straight to tools for creating non-consensual sexually explicit images (SIIA) within the first 20 results. 🔽

#2025InReview | Between July 2024 and July 2025, ISD identified at least 919 sites linked within the Pravda network. It comprises around 90 pro—Russia sites that have published more than 6 million articles. 🔽

Year-end holidays remain a target for IS-linked and IS-inspired attackers. The tragic Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting and disrupted plots on Christmas markets show a pattern: attackers strike during gatherings, fueled by online propaganda. Read our analysis below. www.isdglobal.org/digital_disp...

New ISD research shows a growing prominence of antisemitism across US-based extremist movements, spanning the political spectrum. Analysis of 150,000+ posts found a 21% increase in antisemitic content between Aug 2024 & Jan 2025, w/ spikes linked to major domestic & geopolitical events ⬇️

This week we released ISD’s Digital Policy Lab (DPL) brief, Fostering Healthy Masculinities: Building Resilience Against Online Misogyny. It draws on expert workshops held in September, exploring how online content shapes misogynistic beliefs & identifies ways to strengthen men’s & boys’ resilience.

ISD’s new guide helps families and practitioners spot warning signs of a child or loved one being drawn into nihilistic violence subcultures. This resource will help parents and educators understand risks and approach conversations with care ⬇️ www.isdglobal.org/isd-publicat...

ISD’s sixth Strong Cities Global Summit, hosted by the City of Toronto, was its biggest yet! 🔽

Canada has become the first country to list the violent sextortion ring 764 as a terrorist organisation. For the past two years, ISD has been on the frontline of monitoring this disturbing community and has published resources to help support practitioners, educators, and families combating it.

ISD’s Digital Policy Lab (DPL) is proud to launch our policy brief: "Fostering Healthy Masculinities: Building Resilience Against Online Misogyny.” 🔽

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue is delighted to announce the launch of ISD Canada. This expansion strengthens ISD’s global footprint and deepens our commitment to Canadian partners working to address all forms of hate and extremism, foreign interference, and information operations. 🔽

As part of the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence, ISD is spotlighting our work with Project Catalyst, a consortium of partners led by the @Christchurch Call Foundation, to develop practical solutions to confront the overlap between online misogyny and violent extremism. 🔽

We are proud to announce that the Institute for Strategic Dialogue-US (ISD-US) and the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) will merge under the ISD-US banner on January 1, 2026. www.isdglobal.org/press-releas...

ISD and Movember are partnering to examine how online misogyny fuels violence against women and girls and affects men and boys’ wellbeing. In the first of a series, we call for a public-health approach that engages men and boys as partners in prevention, not just as potential perpetrators.

Want to intern with ISD UK? We are now accepting applications for 6-month paid internships across our Digital Policy, Hate and Extremism teams. Interns will support research, policy analysis and programme delivery. Interested? Apply before 17 Dec! 🔎 https://isdglobal.recruitee.com/vacancies

Deadline closing soon 📣 
ISD-US is looking for a Senior Research Manager to lead digital research on online hate & extremism, with a focus on antisemitism. The role oversees mixed-methods analysis and turns findings into clear insights and policy recommendations. 

Apply before 5 Dec! Info below. 


As part of the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence, ISD is highlighting the urgent need to address deepfake and nudification apps. 🔽

Nihilistic violence includes violent acts lacking a unifying ideology or political goal, often driven by misanthropy or a desire for notoriety in online communities. ⬇️

Online hate shaped the unrest in the Southern Syrian city of Suweyda. ISD’s new analysis shows how misleading content and anti-Druze rhetoric—over 34K posts btwn March and Sept 2025—spiked with conflict, linking online discourse to offline violence. Read the report below.

Online hate shaped the unrest in the Southern Syrian city of Suweyda. ISD’s new analysis shows how misleading content and anti-Druze rhetoric—over 34K posts btwn March and Sept 2025—spiked with conflict, linking online discourse to offline violence. Read the report below.

Today marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence, an annual campaign running from 25 Nov to 10 Dec. Across ISD, our teams are expanding work on gendered harms, from foreign information operations and hate and extremism to nonconsensual intimate deepfake tools.

ISD is looking for a Hungarian-speaking research consultant to support a new project focused on the April 2026 Hungarian parliamentary elections. Think you'd be a good fit? More details below! Deadline: 4 Dec 2025 https://isdglobal.recruitee.com/o/consultant-research-analyst-hungarian

We're hiring! 📣 ISD-UK is recruiting a Digital Methods Manager to develop research methods, analyse online harms & support work on platform accountability. The ideal candidate is someone who enjoys turning complex digital data into clear, actionable insight. Sounds like you? Apply by Dec 1st!

ISD is proud to release the Pravda Network Spotter, a browser extension designed to detect sites linked to a Russia-aligned information operation. This extension warns users when they come across one of the pages by turning the page red, though they can still interact w/ it & switch off the alert.

ISD CEO Sasha Havlicek joined in a papal audience with Pope Leo XIV earlier today, where urgent ethical questions raised by AI were discussed. The audience came as Sasha spoke at the High-Level Meeting on Child Dignity and AI, organised by Fondazione Child ETS and the Child Dignity Alliance. 🔽

US-based members of the 764 network are shifting from online sextortion to real-world violence—with cases of stabbings, arson and a foiled mass attack emerging following the arrests of key leaders. 🔽

764 is a sextortion network which coerces minors into producing Child Sexual Abuse Material and then uses the content to force them into acts of violence, including self-harm. Some cases tragically end in suicide. 🔽

ISD’s latest finds most platforms still fall short on managing online risks from armed conflict. In one case study, even the most detailed plan after the 7 October attacks lacked transparency on freedom of expression, measurable impact & more. ⬇️

ISD research featured in WIRED finds ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek & Grok citing Russian state propaganda when asked about the war in Ukraine: “It’s not only an issue of removal, it’s an issue of contextualising further [...] especially if these sources are appearing amongst trusted, verified sources.”

Ahead of Ireland’s presidential elections, ISD & H&CC found 172 false/misleading posts, as well as 43 AI-gen ones including a deepfake claiming Catherine Connolly’s withdrawal & the election’s cancellation. The brief urges tackling both harmful content & the algorithms that amplify it. More below.

ISD’s new policy brief looks at the online safety challenges facing regulators as they try to keep up with smaller platforms and emerging technologies. 🔗 https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/addressing-illegal-harms-on-small-and-emerging-platforms-regulatory-challenges-and-gaps