Recent analysis

Programs

The Atlantic Council Technology Programs comprises five existing efforts—the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), the GeoTech Center, the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, the Democracy + Tech Initiative, and the Capacity Building Initiative. These operations work together to address the geopolitical implications of technology and provide policymakers and global stakeholders necessary research, insights, and convenings to address challenges around global technology and ensure its responsible advancement.

Content

Event Recap

Jul 15, 2020

Event recap | The future of trust and sensemaking online and in digital transactions

By Hannah Biggs

On July 15, 2020, the GeoTech Center hosted a discussion on ways to best increase trust and sensemaking online and in digital transactions.

Cybersecurity Digital Policy
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#AlertaVenezuela

Jul 14, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: July 14, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Brazilian assets removed by Facebook for “coordinated inauthentic behavior” used the economic and health crisis in Venezuela, which has been exacerbated by the Maduro regime, to promote anti-socialist sentiment in Brazil. The DFRLab also found some of the assets shared memes supporting a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. The same message had been shared before by Rumbo Libertad, a Venezuelan far right and libertarian movement whose members have appeared in pictures with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his sons in the past.

Disinformation Venezuela

In the News

Jul 14, 2020

Allen and Rodriquez in Foreign Policy: The US government needs to regulate social media

By Stephen Rodriguez

Army intelligence officer T.S. Allen and Scowcroft Center Senior Advisor Stephen Rodriguez argue that Washington has a unique responsibility to protect social media and prevent election interference.

Cybersecurity Disinformation

UkraineAlert

Jul 13, 2020

East Ukraine’s European roots and the myths of Putin’s Russian World

By Alvydas Medalinskas

Moscow has sought to justify the war in eastern Ukraine by claiming it historically belongs within the "Russian World", but this ignores the region's deep Ukrainian roots and cosmopolitan heritage.

Conflict Disinformation

Event Recap

Jul 10, 2020

El dilema electoral y la desinformación en Venezuela

By Alfredo Graffe

La discusión se centró en un análisis sobre operaciones de manipulación en redes sociales dentro del contexto de crisis humanitaria compleja que vive Venezuela y sus posibles repercusiones en eventuales elecciones parlamentarias.

Disinformation Spanish

Event Recap

Jul 10, 2020

Trust in elections and disinformation in Venezuela

By Alfredo Graffe

Area kicked-off the conversation by summarizing the recent actions of the Nicolás Maduro regime to promote parliamentary elections slated for later this year after the Venezuelan Supreme Court unconstitutionally appointed a new board to the Electoral Council and replaced the leaders of the two main opposition with regime-friendly politicians.

Disinformation Venezuela

New Atlanticist

Jul 9, 2020

Experts dissect Iran regime’s disinformation campaign as COVID-19 worsens

By Larry Luxner

How much Iran’s 84 million people actually know about events inside their own country is debatable, given Tehran’s heavy-handed censorship and a global disinformation campaign that blames all crises, including COVID-19, on foreigners and perceived enemies of the regime.

Coronavirus Disinformation
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#AlertaVenezuela

Jul 8, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: July 8, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

As the Maduro regime has reported an increase of coronavirus cases in Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro himself blamed Venezuelan migrants returning illegally to their country and the “Colombian mafia” to be the main source of the “Colombian virus” in Venezuela.

Disinformation Venezuela

Interview

Jul 8, 2020

#DFRLabCoffeeBreak with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs

The DFRLab Coffee Break is a video series meant to discuss how disinformation and digital change affect industries, policy making, and society with a community of experts, academics, and leaders from around the world.  Our guest in this video, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, speaks with DFRLab’s Managing Editor and Director, Graham Brookie, about Latvia’s digital resilience, the infodemic surrounding COVID-19, and […]

Disinformation Europe & Eurasia

UkraineAlert

Jul 6, 2020

Czar Putin wants a new age of empires

By Nataliia Popovych and Danylo Lubkivsky

In both word and deed, Putin has made it clear that he rejects today’s rules-based international order and seeks to reverse the verdict of 1991. His vision for a new age of empires represents an existential challenge to the West.

Conflict Disinformation

Experts