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

Flagship Event

Jun 1, 2019

360/OS Summit to Explore Open Source, Digital Forensics, and Disinformation

By Atlantic Council

The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) will host its 360/OS Summit on June 20-21, 2019 in London, England.

Disinformation English

New Atlanticist

May 20, 2019

The Christchurch call and the failure of US leadership

By Emerson T. Brooking

The United States’ snubbing of the document represents a retreat from previous counterterrorism pledges. It also reveals a dangerous divide between the White House and US allies regarding the growing threat of white ethno-nationalist extremism.

Disinformation English

Article

May 7, 2019

Anti-LGBT Facebook Posts Proliferate in Georgia Before Tbilisi Pride

By Eto Buziashvili

Anti-Western and far-right Facebook pages began to disseminate anti-LGBT content following the announcement of Georgia’s first-ever large-scale pride event.

Disinformation English

Article

May 2, 2019

Armenia Assailed by Deceptive “Fact-Checking” Groups, Part 2: The Coordination

By Zarine Kharazian, Eto Buziashvili, and Yulia Reshitko

Two Armenian Facebook pages masqueraded as impartial fact-checking organizations to discredit the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Civil Society Disinformation

Article

May 2, 2019

Armenia Assailed by Deceptive “Fact-Checking” Groups, Part 1: The Players

By Zarine Kharazian, Eto Buziashvili, and Yulia Reshitko

The DFRLab has uncovered a sophisticated influence operation with the aim of discrediting Nikol Pashinyan and his supporters under the hashtag #SutNikol.

Civil Society Disinformation

Testimony

May 1, 2019

Fried Testifies Before House Foreign Affairs on Countering a Resurgent Russia

By Atlantic Council

Ambassador Daniel Fried appears before House Committee on Foreign Affairs during a hearing on “Countering a Resurgent Russia” on May 1, 2019.

Disinformation Elections
Pakistan Army's Covert Social Network

Article

Apr 1, 2019

Pakistan Army’s Covert Social Network

By Ben Nimmo and Kanishk Karan

Individuals linked to the Pakistan Army’s public-relations division ran a network of covert Facebook and Instagram pages until Facebook removed the pages.

Disinformation English

2018 Elections in Latin America

Mar 28, 2019

Digital resilience in Latin America: Automation, disinformation, and polarization in elections

By Valentina Sader

2018 saw political tides turn in three of Latin America’s largest democracies. These elections also saw deep polarization and distrust in institutions among Brazilians, Mexicans, and Colombians in an information environment ripe with disinformation. Following a year-long effort in which the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center and its Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) […]

Americas Brazil

New Atlanticist

Mar 28, 2019

Has progress been made in containing disinformation?

By David A. Wemer

Facebook and Whatsapp representatives hail progress on limiting disinformation's impact on social media.

Brazil Colombia

Event Recap

Mar 28, 2019

Seminar on fighting disinformation by democratic means

By Atlantic Council

The seminar brought together journalists, academic experts, civil society and representatives of government and organizations to discuss the challenge presented by disinformation and different ways to improve resilience ahead of a string of elections in Europe during 2019.

Disinformation Northern Europe