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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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

A masked Wagner fighter visits a makeshift memorial to Yevgeny Prigozhin in Saint Petersburg, Russia, August 24, 2023. (Source: Reuters/Anastasia Barashkova)

New Atlanticist

Aug 24, 2023

Russian War Report: Russian media pins Prigozhin crash on all except Putin

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

On Wednesday, August 23, Wagner Group PMC founder Yevgeny Prighozhin and many of his top brass were reported to be killed in a plane crash. Rumors swirled shortly thereafter as to the nature of the crash.

Conflict
Media
A still image from a bodycam footage, released by Russia's Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be crew members kneeling down in a cockpit during an operation held by Russian navy officers to board the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel with the help of a Ka-29 military helicopter in the Black Sea on August 13, 2023, in this image taken from video published August 15, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. WATERMARK FROM SOURCE.

New Atlanticist

Aug 17, 2023

Russian War Report: Tensions escalate in the Black Sea as the Russian navy forcefully inspects a civilian cargo ship

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

Russia escalated tensions beyond Ukraine again this week when its navy forcibly inspected and fired warning shots at a civilian cargo ship.

Conflict
Digital Policy

Report

Aug 16, 2023

Digital identities and border cultures: The limits of technosolutionism in the management of human mobility

By Nanjala Nyabola

A paper to better inform the conversation around technology’s impact on democracy by evaluating technosolutionism and its application to the management of human mobility.

Afghanistan
Africa

Report

Aug 14, 2023

Protecting point-to-point messaging apps: Understanding Telegram, WeChat, and WhatsApp in the United States

By Iria Puyosa

A year-long project on protecting users' data and privacy that analyzes the growing use of point-to-point messaging platforms in the United States and the implications their design and governing policies have for user privacy and free speech.

Civil Society
Digital Policy
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) listens to Arkady Volozh, Chief Executive Officer of Yandex, as he visits the headquarters of the company in Moscow, Russia September 21, 2017. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

New Atlanticist

Aug 10, 2023

Russian War Report: Co-founder of Russia’s most popular search engine condemns war in Ukraine

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

A co-founder of Yandex, Russia's primary search engine, issued a public statement of opposition to the war in Ukraine and acknowledging his "share of responsibility."

Conflict
Human Rights
USA and Sudan flags

Issue Brief

Aug 8, 2023

A US agenda for action in Sudan’s information environment

By Cameron Hudson

A brief on how the United States and Sudan can collaborate on combatting disinformation and building up the African nation's democratic potential.

Africa
Disinformation
Democracy Derailed - Sudan's Precarious Information Environment

Report

Aug 8, 2023

Sudan’s precarious information environment and the fight for democracy

By Tessa Knight, Lujain Alsedeg

An examination of the time from December 2018, when protests against then-president Omar al-Bashir first broke out, and December 2022, when a framework agreement between civilian and military leaders came into play.

Africa
Civil Society
Members of security services investigate a damaged office building in the Moscow City following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow Russia, August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

New Atlanticist

Aug 3, 2023

Russian War Report: Drones target central Moscow skyscrapers

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

Drone strikes hit central Moscow this week killing none but damaging a skyscraper. Meanwhile, TGStat has restricted access to a Telegram channel that tracks Russian casualties.

Belarus
Conflict
a world map of China, 3d rendering

Report

Aug 2, 2023

Chinese discourse power: Capabilities and impact

By Kenton Thibaut

An examination of China's online and offline channels for the dissemination of "discourse power" and the mechanisms of oversight on which such communications rely.

China
Digital Policy
VIDEO SHOWS: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SPEAKS AT RUSSIA-AFRICA FORUM AT ST. PETERSBURG, SAYING RUSSIA IS READY TO USE REGIONAL CURRENCIES FOR SETTLEMENTS WITH AFRICAN COUNTRIES

New Atlanticist

Jul 27, 2023

Russian War Report: Kremlin seeks stronger ties in Africa as Wagner eyes Niger coup

By Digital Forensic Research Lab

As Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Russia-Africa Summit, he and his government are making moves to solidify regional cooperation. Amid this, Wagner seeks to capitalize on the coup in Niger.

Africa
Belarus