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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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.

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From the archives

Experts

Content

In the News

Feb 22, 2020

Durakoglu quoted in the Boston Globe about the state of a US hostage in Lebanon

Disinformation Middle East
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Feb 18, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: February 18, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

A group of Twitter accounts linked to Venezuelan right-wing movements, such as Rumbo Libertad and Derecha Ciudadana, pushed hashtags not only against Nicolás Maduro but also against Juan Guaidó on Twitter. In some tweets, the group asked for military intervention and misleadingly claimed that Guaidó supported the Maduro regime.

Disinformation Venezuela

Article

Feb 18, 2020

Early-morning flare-up in Luhansk

By Michael J. Sheldon

The DFRLab analyzed imagery from intense fighting in eastern Ukraine on the morning of February 18, 2020.

Conflict Disinformation
2009 Iranian Protests

Report

Feb 11, 2020

Iranian digital influence efforts: Guerrilla broadcasting for the twenty-first century

By Emerson T. Brooking, Suzanne Kianpour

This brief begins with a discussion of the modern Iranian state’s approach to information and information control. It proceeds to a history of the Iranian Internet. Next, it examines the evolution of Iranian digital influence operations, followed by a discussion of the broader information conflict in which they take place. The brief concludes by considering the future nature and intent of Iran’s clandestine digital activities.

Conflict Disinformation
AlertaVenezuela email banner

#AlertaVenezuela

Feb 11, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: February 11, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Rumors claiming that Juan Guaidó had given Donald Trump permission to lead a military intervention in Venezuela started to circulate while Guaidó was on an international tour to Europe and the Western Hemisphere. The claims amassed substantial engagement on social media, including a YouTube video that received more than 100,000 views.

Disinformation Venezuela

New Atlanticist

Feb 11, 2020

US taking right approach with China over coronavirus, former White House official says

By David A. Wemer

As world leaders attempt to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, the United States has been correct to take “a soft touch approach to the relationship with Beijing,” former US homeland security advisor Thomas P. Bossert said at the Atlantic Council on February 11.

China Coronavirus

Insights & Impact

Feb 5, 2020

A reason for skepticism with China’s coronavirus comms

By Tessa Knight and Jacqueline Malaret

While presenting an image abroad of transparency and cooperation in the country's response to COVID-19, China is simultaneously threatening journalists and detaining people who speak out on social media, the latest in its long history of attempting to maintain tight control over the facts to avoid domestic public scrutiny of a public health crisis.

China Civil Society
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#AlertaVenezuela

Feb 4, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: February 4, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

A Twitter network previously reported by the DFRLab used random text, including snippets of poems, song lyrics, articles, and Wikipedia entries, to amplify anti-Guaidó hashtags on Twitter. The random text appeared to be unrelated to Guaidó and to the hashtags. The network’s actions suggest they engaged in inauthentic behavior to make the hashtags seem more popular than they were in an attempt to influence or manipulate the trending topics on Twitter.

Disinformation Venezuela

Article

Jan 30, 2020

Bioweapons, secret labs, and the CIA: pro-Kremlin actors blame the US for coronavirus outbreak

By Eto Buziashvili

Multiple narratives begin to emerge on fringe Russian outlets and social media, following a familiar playbook

Coronavirus Disinformation
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#AlertaVenezuela

Jan 28, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: January 28, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Accusations of corruption against Juan Guaidó and other National Assembly members resurfaced in the form of a misleading claim regarding the misappropriation of foreign funds that was pushed by pro-Maduro regime blogs and media outlets from Venezuela and regime-allied countries.

Disinformation Venezuela