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

STAY CONNECTED

Receive the latest research, along with discussions about disinformation and tech issues.

ABOUT US

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.

LATEST RESEARCH

PROJECTS

Upcoming & Recent Events

Employment opportunities

There are no employment opportunities currently open.

From the archives

Experts

Content

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
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Sep 24, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: September 22, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Investigators from the United Nations (UN) published a report on September 16, 2020, with evidence of “unlawful executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture” in Venezuela that have taken place since 2014.

Disinformation
Venezuela

Elections 2020

Sep 23, 2020

Ahead of the 2020 US elections, the disinformation threat is more domestic than foreign

By Larry Luxner

Three top journalists and editors working at the intersection of national security, technology, and elections discussed the challenges they’re facing on a daily basis with the conspiracy theories, misinformation, and lies percolating online ahead of the US elections.

Civil Society
Disinformation

Elections 2020

Sep 22, 2020

Five big questions as America votes: Disinformation

By DFRLab

Whether the mis- or disinformation is foreign or domestic in origin, an information environment rife with confusing, polarizing, and often false narratives can only serve to further divide an already tense nation.

China
Disinformation
Belarus Rally

Article

Sep 21, 2020

Pro-Lukashenka Telegram channels amplify each other to smear protesters

By Nika Aleksejeva

Several Telegram channels supporting Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka are actively amplifying each other’s content in an attempt to discredit anti-Lukashenka protesters while mobilizing supporters to attend pro-government rallies.

Belarus
Disinformation
Maria Kolesnikova

Article

Sep 15, 2020

Belarus state media botch reporting on a botched abduction

By Nika Aleksejeva

After a foiled abduction of three Belarusian opposition members, Belarus state-owned media outlets stuck to the official version of events, despite mounting evidence of inconsistencies in the story.

Belarus
Disinformation
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Sep 15, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: September 15, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

After the Kremlin announced that Sputnik V – the Russian-funded vaccine for COVID‑19 – would be disseminated in Latin America during phase three trials, accounts aligned with the Maduro regime were the most engaged-with on Twitter promoting “Sputnik V.”

Disinformation
Venezuela