This week analysis features three stores. Russia's Brussels-Based Propaganda Network Survived EU Sanctions New York Times Reporting On Rise of AI Astroturfing in American Politics Ukraine Bot Farm Bust conducted by their secret service thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/this-week-...

What individuals can do is recognize the vacuum when you’re in it. That feeling of desperate need for explanation? That’s your intolerance of uncertainty speaking. It’s biology, not wisdom. The urge to share the first compelling narrative you see serves the narrative, not the truth.

This was not on my bingo card. The White House got community noted.

From the @wsj.com and a truly great graphic. It adds confirmed data and a powerful way to visualise what is going on.

This week, China’s military press didn’t fabricate Japan’s plutonium stockpile. A fake execution video didn’t invent Israel’s new death penalty law. A Russian studio didn’t hide that it made a game glorifying its a questionable airborne assault. Welcome To This Week In Disinformation. #disin

I sourced this from x.com/DiligentDenizen While I need to do some research into it, it suggests there is a lot of really concerning issues for a state issued app. Last time I checked, Orwell’s 1984 was meant to be fiction? #whitehouse #app #data #safety

From X and user Anonymous. This is... interesting.

Geo-mismatch is where a #disinformation actor operating in one country targets another. It's a model for disinformation farms, and platforms already hold the location #data to identify it. Earlier this week, X announced that they were assessing that, only to quickly reverse it.

For the past four months, I’ve been circling a question I thought I could answer: why is our relationship with the news so broken and how do we fix it? Next Tuesday’s piece, “The Caveman Who Read The News,” was supposed to be that answer. It didn’t turn out that way.

The Russophobia Trap In A Thread 1/4 The most dangerous move in the Russophobia playbook is definitional creep: start by condemning ethnic hatred, then stretch the term until it covers criticism of Kremlin policy, then stretch it again until it covers any policy Moscow dislikes.

@meidastouch.com framed this. Its enough to decide the humility of those who have passed, regardless of how much we may or may not disagree with them.

Regardless of politics, @petebuttigieg.bsky.social speaks with the clarity we all deserve.

Its not just Iran. This Week In Disinformation is up. And we have Hungary, UAE, and Taiwan featured this week. Read on to find out why this matters to all of us. thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/this-week-... #disinformation #fakenews #hungary #taiwan #UAE

Cambodia just launched a Chinese-funded "Zero Fake News" campaign across six Mekong nations. Sounds protective. Governments with vague definitions of fake news have a long history of using them on journalists. In Hungary, GRU-linked operatives allegedly ran a coordinated TikTok operation to Russia.

A UN Special Rapporteur shared a fake image, then said "the picture is not the issue." A US governor shared War Thunder footage as evidence of Iranian military capability. These aren't uninformed people. They got played by the same system. That should make you angrier at the system. X is a mess.

Grok is… problematic. Confidently wrong is worse than honestly uncertain. The part nobody's saying loudly enough: xAI instructs Grok to distrust mainstream sources. In a conflict zone. Where verified journalism is one of the few firewalls against fabricated footage.

Truth is slower than lies. It always has been. For the first time, a U.S. military command fought disinformation in public, in real time, by name. Debunking Iranian propaganda within a single news cycle, backed by data and imagery. Read now: thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/this-week-...

I cannot agree MORE with this. The amount of times I've seen "Grok is this true" on X is disheartening. Its not because people want to know the truth, its because Grok itself isn't actually understanding what the truth might be.

This is from X and AssalRad's post. It is an interesting way to understand the positioning of linguistics and how it affects our thinking. When a headline says "X Says Y happened" — the outlet is distancing itself from the claim. When it states "Y happened" — they're vouching for it as fact.

The fog of war isn't a metaphor right now. It's our Monday morning. Nobody has the full picture. And that's exactly when the pressure to pick a side, share the outrage, and perform the certainty. The war for what you believe is loudest when real bombs are falling. I wrote about this.

Only a few hours into the Iran strikes and the disinformation firehose is already on. Here are some points that can help you: Speed is not reliability. Visuals lie easily. Always triangulate. I’m trying to log notable cases and patterns here: substack.com/@thedisinfor...

Two years. Two whole fucking years. Isn’t it wild that our old, “cringe” work is often the proof we were insane enough to start? When I reread that early piece on cognitive warfare, I see rough edges, mixed metaphors, and over-serious drama. thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/a-substack...

If you feel tired of sorting truth from nonsense, that’s not a bug in the system, it’s actually the point. Last week’s stories show the same playbook: AI robots framed as imminent war, 25-year-old 9/11 lies rebadged for revenue, fake “ISW” videos smearing Ukrainian athletes. #disinformation #lies

As someone who has significant informal influence over President Trump as a "loyalty enforcer", this ought to alarm a few. Will she correct her mistakes? I doubt it. There is kinetic activity in Mexico right now, so timely and accurate information matters. #mexico #disinformation #lies

#Disinformation is cheap and telling the truth is slow and costly. Each exploits platform incentives and audience blind spots to drive narratives at scale. So, let us spot the patterns before they harden. This Week In Disinformation is live! thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/this-week-...

Content that makes you feel most certain you’re right and they’re wrong is content specifically engineered to exploit your existing beliefs and identity. The fact that it aligns perfectly with what you already think isn’t validation. It’s targeting. Go on, read the full article.

Shirley’s and Johnson’s probes target California at a crucial moment for the 2026 midterms. Narratives portray Newsom as corrupt, nationalising local races and mobilising base turnout. There is grounds to consider this the shaping phase of an operation. More on: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Tupac quoted him. Wu-Tang sampled his broadcasts. White militia guys and Black inmates read the same text and saw their own betrayal reflected back. "Do Your Own Research." Look at where we are now. read now: thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/why-do-you...

Am I seeing how people are aware of how their media plays into their views? Am I seeing how more people support the work that is done against disinformation? Yes I am. And that's worth every little bit of growth. Are you taking part in this? Here is a link to do so. substack.com/@thedisinfor...

In New Zealand, racist online rhetoric blamed iwi(tribe) for the 22 Jan Mt Maunganui landslide, claiming that tree removal efforts caused the fatal slip. While many call is misinformation, its assessed more as malinformation. read more on: thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/this-week-...

History doesn't repeat. It often rhymes. There was a solid article written by Caroline Orr Bueno on Substack. She documents all the tactics and mannerism used in this clips. It really really is a great read. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Not mine but DAMN its good.

The pattern across twenty-two centuries reveals three constant principles. First: exploit cognitive architecture. Second: weaponise uncertainty. Third: achieve objectives without kinetic force. Now, the war doesn’t wait for volunteers anymore, and you are in it.

A House of Commons committee heard evidence on 18 Jan 2026 that 1,300 social media accounts promoting Scottish independence and anti-West narratives. But those bots went silent during Iran’s internet blackout from 8 Jan 2026. thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/this-week-...

Official comms don’t happen by accident, they’re crafted by strategic teams with clear intent. The images, first posted by Kristi Noem, were altered to make one woman look like she was crying. When official channels doctor images for emotional impact, it’s not just messaging, it edges into lies.

From a military standpoint, America ditching NATO would be a catastrophic self-own. NATO isn't just a treaty or a membership; it's the backbone of effortless US dominance in Europe and beyond. If the powers that be really go for Greenland, we're then back to unilateral overstretch like the 1930s.

The Greenland situation has multiple narratives all competing for your attention. Each narrative constructs different stakes. The temporal compression between events and viral interpretation creates policy friction whether users intend it or not. substack.com/home/post/p-...

As I continue to understand the shape of our information and cognitive space, I’m realising that officials now respond less to what actually happened and more to what millions believe happened. This matters for Greenland. thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/the-four-s...

Sometimes when drafting articles for the future, there comes a line that sits so uncomfortable with me that it should be shared. It pays to learn the architecture of our upbringing, genetics, and history. Then we can understand and perhaps move forward. After all, we are only human.

Ryan Mcbeth is on a roll here. I can’t stress this enough, a point of vulnerability is a point to be exploited. Incidents like this will bring up emotions and demand change, which allows foreign adversaries to leverage the chaos. www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_cr...

Following Maduro’s arrest, AI-generated fakes flooded X, Instagram, and TikTok after the raid. Then, a fake Politico screenshot circulated claiming Trump planned to wear uniforms. Finally, Beijing has reframed a hacking exposure as slander. thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/this-week-...

I remember sitting around with other lads early in February 2022, watching the flood of content pour in. That moment sparked this passion. Then I realised, horribly, that the lies were a vehicle and we ARE the target. substack.com/home/post/p-...

When military force gets repackaged as law enforcement, and when linguistic framing determines which constitutional constraints apply, something shifts in how power operates. so, what's NOT being said about the Maduro extraction? thedisinformationobserver.substack.com/p/whats-not-...

Like millions tracking breaking alerts, I awoke to reports of a surgical 3-hour operation seizing Nicolás Maduro. But, social media lit up with the usual mess. More to follow in this weeks report.

Trust travels faster than rumour. Rank and authority can’t verify your words. In a space crowded with noise, credibility is today’s command presence. When voices feel unheard, they go elsewhere. When people believe someone will listen, truth flows faster than rumor. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Happy new year? This week in disinformation remains as a constant. And over the new year break, things didn’t slow down from disinformation’s two biggest promulgators, China And Russia. substack.com/home/post/p-...

History forgives no one, and Iran's gamble looks reckless. Why? Never divide your strength across two fronts. Napoleon split his army between Russia and Spain, and paid dearly. Hitler made the same error, invading the Soviet Union while locked in with Britain. And its happening in Iran now.

Clausewitz defines strategy as connecting political purposes (ends) to military aims (ways) using available means. Looking to Justice Mission 2025 links the three with the following. 1 out of 3 x.com/TheStudyofWa...

What do I wish for 2026? Wish #1: I Wish Platforms Would Make Us Pause Before Sharing Wish #2: I Wish For Verification To Come With Public Receipts Wish #3: I Wish We Could Invert The Social Cost of Information Sharing Read more on: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Are these wishes realistic? Some of them. Are they comprehensive? Absolutely not. Are they perfect solutions? Not even close. But they are something as we go into 2026. open.substack.com/pub/thedisin... #disinformation #writing #fakenews #media