DFRLab

Charlie Kirk's shooting drove widespread awareness, transforming him into a household name in Canada. As polarized online discussions spread, the CDMRN launched a joint-investigation with MEO, @disinfowatch.bsky.social, @dfrlab.bsky.social & @pearl-uoft.bsky.social 🧵 #cdnpoli

Battles Over Truth Rage Online Amid Iran’s Internet Blackout

I discussed Iran’s internet blackout with the New York Times. The information void is actively being filled with influence ops from Iran’s adversaries and allies.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/b... @dfrlab.bsky.social

@nosumacero.bsky.social joins Osavul for a conversation about Venezuela's complex information environment, unpacking the intricate relationship between power, narratives, and technology in Venezuela's ongoing struggle for freedom and democracy 🇻🇪

🎥 bit.ly/4jQLWqf

🚨 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.

AI, memes, and hashtags: How China is battling the US online over Venezuela Chinese state media and inauthentic accounts promoted narratives of US decline.

🤖🇻🇪 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

How China and Russia are using Maduro’s capture to sway U.S. discourse Chinese and Russian influence operations have sought to capitalize on the U.S. operation in Venezuela by spreading conspiracy theories, confusion and inflammatory claims, researchers say.

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 untenable balancing act Venezuela’s new acting president must choose between accommodating the Trump administration’s demands and preserving unity among the regime’s Chavista base.

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

How China and Russia are using Maduro’s capture to sway U.S. discourse Chinese and Russian influence operations have sought to capitalize on the U.S. operation in Venezuela by spreading conspiracy theories, confusion and inflammatory claims, researchers say.

🇻🇪 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

#StopTheSteal: Timeline of Social Media and Extremist Activities Leading to 1/6 Insurrection How a convergence of disinformation, domestic extremists and anti-democracy movements reached a horrifying climax at the U.S. Capitol.

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

After Maduro: A new dawn for Venezuela Regional experts unpack the implications of the US military operation to remove Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from power on January 3.

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

How social media manipulation fuels anti-Ukraine sentiment in Poland How inauthentic social media activity exploits political and security events to seed division between Poland and Ukraine.

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:

How Venezuela became a model for digital authoritarianism This report dives deep into the state of media in Venezuela and the role it played in the country's slide toward authoritarianism.

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

Lessons on countering foreign manipulation from Moldova’s 2025 elections The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab discusses lessons learned from safeguarding the 2025 elections in Moldova against foreign information manipulation and interference.

📅 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

🔎 Drawing on our expertise countering a range online harms, the DFRLab helped build the Academy as a mechanism to strengthen collective capacity to expose manipulation, protect human rights, and defend democracy in the digital age.

Read more: bit.ly/48kgBqy

🇨🇦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 💬

Biometrics in Africa: The market behind digital identity The Atlantic Council’s Democracy + Tech Initiative hosts a conversation on biometric and digital identification systems in Africa.

📅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

Authoritarian reach and democratic response: A tactical framework to counter and prevent transnational repression When foreign governments conduct surveillance, intimidation, or enforcement actions, they undermine state sovereignty and threaten to erode public trust in institutions, representing a significant nat...

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)."

Authoritarian reach and democratic response: A tactical framework to counter and prevent transnational repression When foreign governments conduct surveillance, intimidation, or enforcement actions, they undermine state sovereignty and threaten to erode public trust in institutions, representing a significant nat...

#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.