DFRLab

06/26/2025

War through Grok-tinted glasses? 🤖

As tensions escalated between Israel & Iran, X's became an unlikely narrator of the war—often getting it wrong. DFRLab's latest investigation analyzes 130k+ posts to uncover how the AI amplified confusion in conflict's early days.

What happens when people turn to a chatbot to make sense of war? Find out more:

An analysis of over 100,000 posts on X reveals Grok's inaccurate and conflicting verifications in responses regarding the Israel-Iran war.

06/12/2025

HAPPENING NOW: Join Vint Cerf, Anriette Esterhuysen, Jason Pielemeier, and Chengetai Masango as they explore the IGF’s legacy—and why defending an open internet is more urgent than ever 🛜

🔗 Livestream: https://bit.ly/3FTpoW7

Got a question for our experts? Visit https://bit.ly/44eBr9S

Hosted by the Democracy + Tech Initiative, this conversation brings together experts to explore the importance of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the...

06/10/2025

There’s still time to register!

💻After two decades of the UN’s Internet Governance Forum, it remains a vital space for global internet governance.

Join the Democracy + Tech Initiative on June 12 at 9:00a.m. for a conversation on why the Internet Governance Forum matters now more than ever.

🔗Registration:

06/09/2025

Mark your calendar: June 12th at 9:00 a.m. ET | 3:00 p.m. CEST

💻 For two decades, the UN’s Internet Governance Forum has shaped global internet policy. Ahead of , internet policy faces growing digital fragmentation, rising state control & accelerated technological change.

Join internet pioneers & policy leaders Vint Cerf, Anriette Esterhuysen, Jason Pielemeier, and Chengetai Masango for a conversation on what comes next for the IGF.

🔗 Register now:

Hosted by the Democracy + Tech Initiative, this conversation brings together experts to explore the importance of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the role it has played for the past twenty years.

05/16/2025

From Bucharest to Chisinau: Ahead of Romania's 2025 election, DFRLab's Victoria Olari traces the rise of Presidential candidate George Simion, and the pro-Kremlin actors in Romania & Moldova helping pave his path.

This surge of support from Russia-aligned networks in both Romania and Moldova further raises the stakes for an election with profound consequences for NATO, the defense of Ukraine, and the trajectory of Romania-Moldova relations.

🇷🇴 Read more: https://bit.ly/3GWxhu9

Russian-aligned actors in both Romania and Moldova consolidate support for George Simion in final days of campaign.

05/15/2025

Paid influencer campaigns aren’t just limited to brands deals 🤳

The DFRLab uncovered a coordinated campaign lead by South African influencers for hire targeting after he declined a ceasefire.

The influencers pushed anti-Zelenskyy and pro-Russia hashtags to X’s trending list in , highlighting how paid content creators can be leveraged to amplify political narratives, especially when the underlying issue may seem distant or unfamiliar.

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Multiple South African X accounts linked to paid influencer marketplace also participated in previous campaign that advanced pro-Russian narratives.

05/08/2025

🇦🇿 🇬🇪 As drifts further from the West, Azerbaijani media amplifies the narrative. Despite EU ties, both countries have recently aligned in anti-Western rhetoric running the risk of eroding democratic freedoms.

The troubling reality is 's path to authoritarianism may preview Georgia's future as political freedoms erode and both nations align against Western influence.

DFRLab’s Givi Gigitashvili explores the dynamics between Azerbaijani & Georgian anti-Western narratives: https://bit.ly/4dbKL1k

Politicians and pro-government media in Azerbaijan packages Georgia’s anti-Western rhetoric and political shift for a domestic audience, reinforcing the narrative of Western decline.

05/01/2025

⏳ The first 100 days of the new Trump administration has rewritten the status quo of international tech policy, leaving global partners unsure how to engage with the US.

Mark Scott's latest with Tech Policy Press explores the ramifications of the abrupt change in Washington's approach, from the US' long term interests to China's positioning as an emerging leader.

🔗 https://bit.ly/42GsghW

Trump has pulled back from global alliances around internet governance, artificial intelligence standards, and semiconductor supply chains, writes Mark Scott.

04/30/2025

We’re live from Brussels 🎙️🇧🇪

Join & DFRLab's Mark Scott for a conversation featuring 's on digital resilience, tech competitiveness, & navigating global tensions.

Watch now:

AN EVENT—Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, shares insights on maintaining trust and promoting competitiveness in a time of trade and geopolitical volatility.

04/30/2025

🇨🇦 How did social media shape Canada's election?

From a convergence of geopolitical tensions to AI generated spam & platform vulnerabilities, DFRLab's Layla Mashkoor sheds light on Canada's unique information environment & what it means for democracies globally.

Explore critical insights into the vulnerabilities facing democracies worldwide in our latest analysis: https://bit.ly/42BQg5M

Platform enforcement gaps, AI-generated spam, and foreign interference concerns converged during high-stakes political contest.

04/29/2025

🚀T-Minus 1 day till our event with Microsoft's Vice Chair & President Brad Smith.

AN EVENT—Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, shares insights on maintaining trust and promoting competitiveness in a time of trade and geopolitical volatility.