Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab)

🇦🇿🔎 As riots broke out in the French territory of New Caledonia, Azerbaijani social media accounts took the opportunity to target the French leadership & their handling of the crisis. By spreading inflammatory claims about France’s rule over the island, the accounts reportedly tied to Azerbaijan ruling party tried to: 🔎 Inflate civil unrest in New Caledonia by spreading misinformation through X profiles. 🔎 Create a negative view around the Caledonian election reform. 🔎Undermine French authority in the area through the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) and different news agencies. Explore Valentin Châtelet investigation 🔗 https://lnkd.in/g2mdQwqm #NewCaledonia #Azerbaijan

🚨 NEW REPORT 🔎 Our 2nd investigation with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) shows how the Russian propaganda and disinformation “Pravda” network extended its coverage and aims (and succeeds) at polluting large language models (LLMs) and Wikipedia. 🗒️ We also demonstrate the inability of X’s Community notes to aptly address the spread of “Pravda” content on the platform. ▶️ Read our summary https://lnkd.in/e9H-BEiV ▶️ Read the report https://lnkd.in/euw64xT4 #ai #llm #propaganda #disinformation #wikipedia

New research by the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) and CheckFirst reveals that Russia-linked Pravda network domains are often cited in Wikipedia source links, X Community Notes, and conversations generated by AI chatbots. Read the full report by Amaury L. and Valentin C. ⬇️

🇲🇩 AI-driven Telegram network manipulating Moldova’s political discourse Through an extensive analysis of over 56,000 Telegram messages across thirty-nine channels Victoria Olari's latest investigation uncovers a highly coordinated information distribution network Tactics include: 🔍 AI chatbots & fake local engagement to simulate community trust 🔍 Translation errors revealing automated content generation 🔍 Hierarchical content distribution—who originates & who amplifies 🔍 "Soft engagement” tactics (e.g., morning greetings) to appear more credible The forwarding patterns reveal a hierarchical structure, where certain channels act as content originators while others serve as amplifiers—a clear sign of orchestrated influence operations rather than organic community discussion. This is a highly sophisticated effort, likely Russian in origin, designed to manipulate Moldova’s political landscape. 🔗 Read the full breakdown: https://lnkd.in/ezB7PNxN

Yesterday, the Atlantic Council’s Democracy and Tech Initiative launched the report “Emerging technology policies and democracy in Africa: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zambia in focus”. The report’s comprehensive nature, covering African Union policies alongside national regulations in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zambia, makes it a unique resource for understanding the evolving tech governance landscape across the continent. It offers a clearer understanding of the evolving regulatory environments and frameworks within which these countries operate, focusing on connectivity, data governance, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and digital public infrastructure. The report is the result of the work of a team of experts from the Global Center on AI Governance: Ayantola Alayande, Samuel Segun, Leah Davina Junck, PhD, Fola Adeleke, Selamawit Abdella, Rachel Adams, Mark Gaffley, and Funbi Salami. I want to highlight the significant value of the stakeholder mapping included in the report. This mapping identifies key government agencies, private corporations, and civil society organizations actively engaged in connectivity, data governance, and artificial intelligence within each focus country. We are confident that this resource will offer practical guidance for governments and corporations seeking to be active players in the African tech ecosystem. It could facilitate strategic engagement, partnership development, and policy alignment across these diverse environments. This research was made possible thanks to the support and partnership of the Embassy of Denmark in Washington, D.C., for our project "Inclusive Rights-Aligned Approaches to Tech Governance." This project encompasses Democracy + Tech Initiative collaboration with African civil society and scholars to address tech governance issues. You can download and read the full report to explore the findings and recommendations. https://lnkd.in/e6YzQGPa

HAPPENING NOW: How are African nations shaping the future of tech governance? Join us for the launch of DTI's latest report—a deep dive into AI, cybersecurity, data governance, and more 🚀 Livestream available: https://lnkd.in/eUrmEDUe

Happening tomorrow at 9:00AM ET; 15:00 Central Africa! Register now to hear insights and expert commentary on the Democracy + Tech Initiative's latest report on governing emerging technology in Africa 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gDR5uvnc

🚀 REPORT LAUNCH: Governing Emerging Tech in Africa  📍 Virtual Event | 🗓 March 10, 9:00 AM ET; 15:00 Central Africa | 🔗 Register now: https://lnkd.in/gDR5uvnc How are South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zambia navigating the challenges of AI, cybersecurity, data governance, and digital infrastructure? Join the Democracy + Tech Initiative on March 10 at 9:00 AM ET for the launch of “Governing Emerging Tech in Africa: Approaches from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zambia.” Featuring keynote speaker Fola Adeleke, Executive Director of the Global Center on AI Governance, in conversation with Aicha Thiendella F., Assistant Director for Francophone Africa at DFRLab. Welcoming remarks will be given by Iria Puyosa, Senior Research Fellow at the Democracy + Tech Initiative. The panel discussion will feature digital policy experts Juliet N. Nanfuka (CIPESA), Lillian Nalwoga (CIPESA), Elizabeth Orembo (Research ICT Africa), Chiti Mbizule Mutati (Paradigm Initiative), Khadijah El-Usman (Paradigm Initiative), and Miriam Beatrice W. (Paradigm Initiative). The event will conclude with an open discussion on the future of technology governance in Africa, exploring how inclusive policies can ensure equitable digital transformation and protect digital rights

☢️ Since 2022, narratives suggesting that Ukraine is planning attacks on nuclear power plants has been a key theme in pro-Kremlin influence campaigns. The Nuclear Power Plant in Zaporizhzhia is an especially sensitive target. In DFRLab’s latest, Iryna A. and Meredith F. investigate: Fake Facebook accounts are being used to comment pro-Russian narratives on Ukrainian posts. Russian propaganda manipulates and spreads findings of the IAEA to show Ukraine as the aggressor. Patterns are being used to spread misinformation about Zaporizhzhia and other nuclear power plants. Explore the findings:

February marks one year since the death of political dissident #Alexei Navalny. After his death, surges of scams were posted to Facebook impersonating the Navalny team, Putin’s political opponents, or posing as credible news sources. In the DFRLab’s latest investigation, Valentin C. and Kristina Gildejeva discovered: 🔎 83 Meta ads that linked to scams encouraging users to share personal information 🔎 Inauthentic pages pretending to be credible news sources promoting the scam 🔎 Scams mimicking the “European partnership investment programme,” which previously targeted victims with fake European initiatives 🔎 Deepfake videos and miscaptioned content used to impersonate political figures and spread rumors Currently, 9 out of 17 these pages are still active.  Explore more: Scammers impersonated Navalny team, news outlets to promote fake stories and lure victims - DFRLab.