DFRLab

24/07/2026

Trustworthy AI won't be built by principles alone.

It requires institutions that can test systems, share knowledge, coordinate responses, and build confidence across borders.

That's the next challenge for AI governance.

Read more:

Strengthening regional capacity on AI trust and safety could ultimately prove more valuable than establishing isolated national institutions.

16/06/2026

📅 TODAY | 11:30 AM ET
Who will finance the future of global connectivity? 🛜

Join us for a discussion with Kenton Thibaut and Jochai Ben-Avie on the financing models, partnerships, and policies that will shape the next generation of digital infrastructure.

🔗

This high-level discussion explores how the United States and its allies can finance global digital infrastructure to compete with China and close the digital divide.

11/06/2026

Who will finance the future of global connectivity?

Join us for the launch of a new report examining how the US and its allies can expand digital infrastructure, close the digital divide, and compete with China's Digital Silk Road.

🗓 June 16 | 11:30 AM ET
🔗 Register:

This high-level discussion explores how the United States and its allies can finance global digital infrastructure to compete with China and close the digital divide.

14/04/2026

Still thinking about applying to Digital Sherlocks? 🤔

Good news! Applications for our 2026 cohort have been extended to April 21.

If you’ve been meaning to apply, this is your opportunity to join a global community of working to track narratives, verify digital content, and understand today’s information environment 🔎

Through this free, three-month program from the DFRLab, participants build practical open-source investigative skills and connect with peers across regions.

Apply now: https://bit.ly/47JLw02

11/04/2026

If you’re already trying to make sense of the information environment, tracking narratives, verifying content, or following influence operations... you know how complex this space is.

Digital Sherlocks 2026 is built for that work.

This free program from the Digital Forensic Research Lab brings together journalists, researchers, students, and civil society practitioners for hands-on training—and connects you to a global community of Digital Sherlocks doing this work every day.

🗓 Applications close April 14
🔗 https://bit.ly/47JLw02

03/04/2026

Digital Sherlocks is back 🕵️‍♀️

Applications are now open for Digital Sherlocks 2026, the DFRLab’s free online program training a global community of investigators to track, verify, and understand today’s information environment.

Across three months of live sessions, participants build real open-source investigative skills through live sessions with DFRLab experts.

Join the community and build the skills to investigate today’s information environment.

🗓 Apply by April 14, 2026 (23:59 ET)
🔗 https://bit.ly/47JLw02

31/03/2026

We’re excited to introduce the 2026 cohort of Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas - DDIA's Latinos, Media, and Democracy Program (LMDP) – The AI Edition.

This year’s journalists, content creators, and community leaders will explore AI, media, and information integrity to strengthen Latino communities.

Meet the cohort: https://ddia.org/en/LMDP-2026

28/03/2026

Watch the Watchers 👁️ 👁️

A new report from Conexión Segura y Libre and the DFRLab reveals how surveillance technologies are used for political control in Venezuela. From AI-powered cameras to digital apps and cyberpatrolling, the system creates layered risks for activists, journalists, and everyday citizens.

🔎 Explore the report now:

Despite changes in leadership, Venezuela's extensive surveillance infrastructure remains fully operational.

25/03/2026

Venezuela’s surveillance state didn’t disappear with Nicolás Maduro.

Join the Atlantic Council’s Democracy + Tech Initiative and Conexión Segura y Libre for the launch of "Watch the Watchers: Surveillance technologies for political control in Venezuela," examining the architecture of Venezuela’s surveillance system, from AI CCTV to telecom interception.

🗓 Mar 26 | 10 AM ET
Register: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/how-venezuela-deploys-surveillance-to-maintain-political-control/

The Atlantic Council's Democracy + Tech Initiative and Conexión Segura y Libre present the most comprehensive analysis to date of Venezuela's massive surveillance system, which is still operational after Maduro's removal, and its implications for democratic transition.

13/01/2026

AI, memes, and hashtags: How China is battling the US online over Venezuela 🤖 🇻🇪

Kenton Thibaut's analysis shows that Chinese state-linked social media accounts responded to the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with a deliberate narrative push: casting the United States as unpredictable and destabilizing, while positioning China as a steady, responsible actor upholding the rules-based international order.

Rather than relying on traditional state messaging, these accounts engaged in memefied political dialogue, deliberately adopting an irreverent, digitally native aesthetic optimized for virality.

For China, this incident offers strategic value, strengthening the state's efforts to undermine US alliance while simultaneously self-positioning as a "responsible global power."

Read more:

Chinese state media and inauthentic accounts promoted narratives of US decline.