Digital Forensic Research Lab

The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) has operationalized the study of disinformation by exposing falsehoods and fake news, documenting human rights abuses, and building digital resilience worldwide.

The Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) is a first of its kind organization with technical and policy expertise on disinformation, connective technologies, democracy, and the future of digital rights. Incubated at the Atlantic Council in 2016, the DFRLab has conducted over 1,000 investigations exposing influence operations and emerging digital threats worldwide.

With a team rooted in diverse regional expertise and subject-matter knowledge, the DFRLab works to promote digital resilience, defend democratic institutions, and ensure that objective fact remains central to public discourse in an increasingly contested information space.

Read the DFRLab’s latest case studies, learn about our initiatives, and more at DFRLab.org

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Programs

The Democracy + Tech Initiative creates policy practices that align global stakeholders toward tech and governance that reinforces, rather than undermines, open societies. It builds on the DFRLab’s established track record and leadership in the open-source field, empowering global communities to promote transparency and accountability online and around the world.

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.

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From the archives

Experts

Content

BelarusProtestor

Article

Oct 23, 2020

Belarus anti-Lukashenka media falls into confirmation bias traps

By Nika Aleksejeva

Independent media outlets NEXTA Live and TUT.by shared unverified information, including a video apparently recorded to undermine their credibility.

Belarus Disinformation
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Oct 20, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: October 20, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Videos reporting on Venezuela and posted by Colombian YouTube channel Noticias Mundiales Al Día outperformed videos and channels on social media.

Disinformation Venezuela
Belarus Police Brutality

Article

Oct 19, 2020

Belarus Interior Ministry exaggerates protester violence to justify excessive force

By Nika Aleksejeva

Two months after the contested presidential election, law enforcement has returned to using disproportionate violence against protesters.

Belarus Disinformation
False Religious Conflict in Belarus

Article

Oct 15, 2020

Kremlin creates illusion of a religious clash between Belarus Orthodox and Catholics

By Nika Aleksejeva

Open source evidence shows overall solidarity among religious groups in Belarus despite Kremlin attempt to foment conflict between Orthodox and Catholics.

Belarus Disinformation
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Oct 14, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: October 14, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Nicolás Maduro claimed anew that Colombian President Iván Duque had prepared for and will oversee incursion into Venezuela.

Disinformation Venezuela
Czech Flashbang grenade

Article

Oct 6, 2020

Belarus riot police disperse crowds with Czech-made flashbangs

By Lukas Andriukaitis

Open-source clues on Czech arms company potentially supplying stun grenades to Lukashenka’s regime in violation of EU embargo.

Belarus Central Europe
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Oct 6, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: October 6, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Heraldo Venezolano, a news aggregating website originally registered in the United States, garnered the most engagement on Facebook on reports of the Maduro regime’s receipt of a shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on October 2, 2020.

Disinformation Venezuela
Belarus Cyber Partisans

Article

Oct 1, 2020

Lukashenka’s regime confused by protest-driven cyber attacks

By Nika Aleksejeva

Government reactions to attacks by the Belarus Cyber Partisans marred by defensiveness, contradictions and ignorance.

Belarus Cybersecurity
Interference2020

Elections 2020

Sep 29, 2020

Making sense of foreign interference claims on the eve of the 2020 US election

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

The DFRLab launches an interactive, open-source database that captures allegations of foreign interference relevant to the 2020 election. It assesses the credibility, objectivity, evidence, transparency, and impact of each claim.

Disinformation Elections
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Sep 29, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: September 29, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Following a visit to the Latin America region by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Nicolás Maduro’s attacks directed at the secretary and also at current Colombian President Iván Duque gained traction on social media, with an article from dubious website Al Punto receiving the most engagement on Facebook, in particular via a post by a Colombian influencer.

Disinformation Venezuela