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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

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#AlertaVenezuela

Dec 17, 2019

#AlertaVenezuela: December 17, 2019

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

As Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó waged a political battle for Venezuela, they spent 2019 going head to head on social media as well. Social media is an important battlefield in Venezuela and one of the areas the regime prioritizes in order to control the country. The DFRLab analyzed their social presence on Facebook and Twitter from January to December 2019 and concluded that, even though Maduro has more followers and page likes, Guaidó garners more engagement with his posts.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Dec 10, 2019

#AlertaVenezuela: December 10, 2019

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

On December 8, 2019, Spanish newspaper El Mundo published a set of images that the opposition to the Maduro regime took to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The action was intended to prove that Óscar Pérez, a former police officer, had been executed by the regime. Venezuelan authorities announced on January 16, 2018, that Óscar Pérez had been killed in a shootout with security forces. Videos published on social media, however, showed Pérez asking Maduro forces to stop shooting and promising he would surrender. Pérez had led an insurrection against Maduro in June 2018.

Disinformation Venezuela
Candle in the Dark Destruction Cole

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Dec 10, 2019

A candle in the dark: US national security strategy for artificial intelligence

By Tate Nurkin, Stephen Rodriguez

AI is expected to have a transformational impact on the future of geopolitics, defense, and security. In this fluctuating environment, where the US is engaged in a high-stakes competition with is near-peer adversaries, and AI is enabling paradigm-shifting changes in public and private sector operations, how should the US respond?

Artificial Intelligence China

New Atlanticist

Dec 10, 2019

What the United States can learn from Europe on fighting cyberattacks and disinformation

By John Burton

If you want to deal effectively with cyber challenges then you need to address not just the computer part…but the political part as well, the human being behind the attack,” said Jonatan Vseviov, the Estonian ambassador to the United States.

Disinformation European Union

UkraineAlert

Dec 4, 2019

Profit over principle: Apple appeases the Kremlin

By Diane Francis

Apple has changed the labelling on its apps for Russian users and now shows Ukraine's occupied Crimean peninsula as Russian territory. This follows a similar move by Google earlier in 2019. By bowing to the Kremlin's demands, do global tech giants risk normalizing Russian aggression against Ukraine?

Conflict Disinformation
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#AlertaVenezuela

Dec 3, 2019

#AlertaVenezuela: December 3, 2019

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Internet users in Venezuela faced partial and total loss of connectivity on December 1, 2019. The disruption was not caused by censorship, as has happened previously, but by the planned maintenance of an undersea cable. Users from privately owned service providers faced connectivity issues from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (local time), which did not affect the state-provider CANTV, according to NetBlocks, a nonprofit organization that monitors internet accessibility around the world.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Nov 26, 2019

#AlertaVenezuela: November 26, 2019

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Colombia has become the latest Latin American country to engage in anti-government protests, as citizens took to the streets across the region calling for change: from marches decrying austerity policies in Ecuador and Chile to protests in Bolivia initially based on claims of fraud in the October 20 election and more recently over the perception that President Evo Morales’s resignation was forced (i.e., a “coup”).

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Nov 19, 2019

#AlertaVenezuela: November 19, 2019

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Inspired by recent events in Bolivia, supporters of both Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro took to the streets in parallel, competing marches on Saturday, November 16. Guaidó called for the November 16 march as the first of a permanent series of protests to reach a definitive solution for the crisis. He said the aim was to “achieve what happened in Bolivia and that the Armed Forces and the police side with all Venezuelans.” In response, Maduro called on his supporters to head to the streets. Following Evo Morales removal in Bolivia, Maduro’s supporters added an additional cause into their protest and also marched in solidarity with the ousted Bolivian leader, who they claimed was the victim of a coup.

Disinformation Venezuela
Kremlin digital tools

Article

Nov 18, 2019

The Kremlin augments its digital tools for cracking down on protesters

By Givi Gigitashvili

Violent police crackdowns are not the only tactic protesters in Russia can expect, as they have also been subject to an increasing use of digital technologies as tools for intimidation.

Conflict Disinformation
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#AlertaVenezuela

Nov 12, 2019

#AlertaVenezuela: November 12, 2019

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

The Maduro regime reacted to the resignation of one of its long-time allies, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, by showing support and denouncing what it referred to as “a coup.” After more than two weeks of protests in the country following claims of fraud in the October 20 election, Morales resigned on November 10. Because the resignation occurred after the heads of the Bolivian armed forces and national police called on Morales to step down, Morales himself as well as Nicolás Maduro and other left-wing world leaders described the event as “a coup.”

Disinformation Venezuela

Experts