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

In the News

May 12, 2020

Otis quoted in Reuters on COVID-19 disinformation and misinformation

Disinformation Internet
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#AlertaVenezuela

May 12, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: May 12, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

The hashtag #OperacionGedeon, in reference to the name of the failed attempt to oust Nicolás Maduro from power, trended on Twitter in Venezuela from May 3, 2020, when the first armed clashes and detentions were reported by the Maduro regime, until May 6.

Disinformation Venezuela

Press Release

May 5, 2020

Atlantic Council’s DFRLab independent analysis of networks removed by Facebook in Russia, Georgia, and Myanmar

May 5, 2020 – The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) is at the forefront of the study of disinformation, foreign influence operations, and – more broadly – social media’s role for free and open societies. In its April 2020 monthly report on coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB) and foreign or government interference (FGI) across its platforms, Facebook […]

Disinformation
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#AlertaVenezuela

May 5, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: May 5, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Following a call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Nicolás Maduro on April 20, the Spanish-language version of Kremlin-funded website Avia.pro, Avia-es.com, claimed Russia would support the Bolivarian Republic by sending troops to confront U.S. forces stationed in the Caribbean Sea, near the coast of Venezuela.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Apr 28, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: April 28, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

False diets, cures, and homemade recipes to treat or prevent COVID-19 have appeared on Venezuela’s news outlets, social media, and Maduro regime announcements since February 28, 2020.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Apr 21, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: April 21, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

As thousands of Venezuelans who lost their livelihoods to the COVID outbreak return to their home country, pro-Maduro outlets claimed the Colombian government had stolen funds meant to support these Venezuelan migrants.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Apr 15, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: April 15, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

In an attempt to divert attention away from the economic and health crisis in Venezuela, regime officials, pro-Maduro media outlets, and pro-Maduro Twitter accounts focused their publications on recent U.S.-led counter-narcotic operations in the region and COVID-19 reports about Colombia between April 9–13.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Mar 31, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: March 31, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Three Facebook groups impersonating the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared content about Maduro’s indictment for drug trafficking on March 26, 2020.

Disinformation Venezuela

Article

Mar 27, 2020

U.S. politicians exploit coronavirus fears with anti-Chinese dog whistles

By Max Rizzuto

Political tensions rise as leading conservative politicians repeatedly term COVID-19 as a Chinese or “foreign” disease.

Politics & Diplomacy United States and Canada
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#AlertaVenezuela

Mar 25, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: March 25, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Two Venezuelan fringe websites created Facebook groups and pages impersonating well-known media outlets to promote their own content, apparently motivated by profit.

Disinformation Venezuela