Conflict & crisis Hub

The Conflict & Crisis Hub brings together the most relevant and insightful materials on disinformation in times of conflict and crisis. It’s a curated space that connects news, research, and tools chosen for their value and clarity. Here, you can find what’s most worth reading, watching, and exploring, all through a single, trusted platform.

Why this hub?

Since the beginning of the decade, the world has been stricken by a global pandemic, natural disasters, and a twofold increase in armed conflicts, with 2023 marking one of the most violent years since the end of the Cold War, recording 59 conflicts worldwide.

All this has worsened an already fragile information landscape. Disinformation expands significantly during moments of political, economic, and social unrest, from wars and humanitarian crises to public health emergencies. In such contexts, it acts as fuel for instability, amplifying fear, undermining trust, and distorting information vital for saving lives and protecting rights.

The Conflict & Crisis Hub is designed to help you map out these dynamics, how false or manipulated information spreads during emergencies and how societies, platforms, and institutions respond.

What you’ll find here

  • News & Frontlines highlights noteworthy developments and analyses on disinformation in conflict and crisis contexts, a curated selection refreshed monthly for what’s most relevant and revealing.
  • Disinfo in Depth gathers reports and analyses from academics, CSOs, and international organisations, divided into two main areas: Conflicts and Crises.
  • Multimedia Library features podcasts and webinars exploring the link between information and emergencies.
  • Community Resources offers practical tools to track and counter disinformation, alongside initiatives and organisations dedicated to protecting information integrity in conflict and crisis settings.

In short, this hub is your go-to space for exploring how disinformation shapes and amplifies conflicts and crises. It brings together the most relevant insights, tools, and analyses, fostering collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to navigate an increasingly complex information landscape.

Together, we’re building a community to tackle these challenges head-on, promoting awareness and digital literacy.

NEWS & frontlines

The most recent news on platforms and disinformation in conflict or crisis, updated monthly

key updates

Centre for Information Resilience: this article explains how open-source investigators have documented the Israel–Gaza war while navigating an “unusually hostile” information environment where misinformation, misattributed footage and AI-generated distortions spread rapidly. CIR argues that rigorous verification and long-term evidence archiving are essential to counter manipulation and preserve accountability.

European Council: In a January 2026 speech at the Council of Europe, Moldova’s President Maia Sandu warned that Europe faces “two wars”: Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine and a parallel hybrid war targeting democracies through disinformation, cyberattacks and election interference.

She stressed that information manipulation amplified by algorithms and AI is one of the most dangerous threats, calling for stronger legal tools to counter foreign information manipulation and protect elections.

Medscape: France has launched a new national plan to tackle health disinformation, citing risks to patient safety and trust in institutions as false content spreads rapidly on social media. The strategy draws on a major expert report (156 interviews, 270 participants) and includes citizen consultations, a national barometer on health disinfo, creation of a Health Disinformation Observatory, and an “infovigilance” system to detect and respond to viral falsehoods, particularly on platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

In a four-part explainer series, health science company ZOE unpacks how health misinformation and disinformation spreads online, and why it poses growing risks for public trust, informed decision-making, and patient safety.

The series highlights several key “amplifiers” of misleading health content: social media influencers who promote viral but unverified wellness claims; credentialed “rogue experts” who misuse professional authority to legitimise false narratives; and generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, which can produce confident, persuasive answers that may be inaccurate or lack scientific grounding.

Finally, ZOE stresses that health misinformation has global reach, travelling rapidly across borders through digital platforms and algorithmic feeds, making it harder to contain and increasing the need for stronger media literacy, evidence-based communication, and coordinated responses to protect public health.

The Guardian reports that German Health Minister Nina Warken has strongly rejected Robert F Kennedy Jr’s allegations that doctors in Germany are being prosecuted for issuing Covid vaccine or mask exemptions, calling the claims “completely unfounded” and “factually incorrect”. Warken said prosecutions only occurred in cases involving fraud or forged documents.

UNWRA: UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini argues that the ban on independent international journalists entering Gaza is fuelling disinformation and polarised narratives. He stresses that restricting press access enables campaigns that undermine firsthand evidence and humanitarian testimony, and calls for the ban to be lifted as a matter of media freedom and accountability

Science Direct: A new narrative review warns that social media and digital platforms are accelerating the spread of nutritional myths and false news (e.g., detox diets, “healthier” coloured salts, unnecessary gluten-/lactose-free products). It explains how bias, emotional messaging, media simplification and commercial incentives fuel misinformation, and calls for coordinated action by health professionals and institutions to strengthen evidence-based communication and health literacy.

During Iran’s January 2026 protests, authorities imposed a near-total internet and phone shutdown, cutting off independent reporting and isolating journalists and newsrooms. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) describes the blackout as a deliberate strategy to silence media, conceal abuses, and restrict access to reliable information, including through the suspension of reformist outlets.

As the blackout stalled the flow of verifiable information from inside Iran, the information vacuum was rapidly filled online by propaganda, disinformation and influence operations. The New York Times reports that bots and coordinated campaigns spread conflicting narratives and misleading or AI-generated protest imagery on platforms like X and Instagram, with competing actors amplifying both pro- and anti-regime messaging. France 24/AFP similarly highlights how hyper-realistic AI protest videos, shared by both sides, gained millions of views, demonstrating how synthetic content can distort reality during fast-moving crises. In parallel, DW Fact Check documents how AI fakes and recycled footage from other countries were repackaged as protest material, showing how internet restrictions make verification harder and allow misinformation to thrive when truth becomes difficult to confirm.

In addition to the blackout’s immediate effects, Chatham House experts argue the January 2026 internet shutdown reflects a broader trajectory toward digital isolationism and state-controlled information environments. They note Iran may be moving toward a tiered or “white-listed” internet accessed only through approved channels, leveraging the National Information Network and other tools to sustain long-term control over digital communication and public discourse, a model increasingly seen in other authoritarian contexts.

 

EUvsDisinfo’s Disinformation Review analyses how pro-Kremlin outlets justify Russia’s winter strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, using “blame-the-victim” narratives that shift responsibility onto Ukraine’s leadership and frame civilian suffering as a tool to force surrender.

A The Conversation analysis examines the rising profile of Iranian exile figure Reza Pahlavi during the January 2026 protests, questioning whether he is a credible opposition leader or an opportunist. It highlights his polarising legacy as the shah’s son, limited verifiable support inside Iran, and controversies including alleged influence/disinformation efforts promoting him on Persian-language social media.

Nature: This study maps Russian-language anti-war discourse on X after the 2022 invasion, using NLP + network analysis. It identifies key actors/communities, shows heavy bot involvement on both pro- and anti-war sides, and finds coordinated tactics like hashtag hijacking, with pro-government clusters using framing strategies to dismiss/distract while opposition clusters build solidarity and document repression.

  • Volume trend: activity drops after X is blocked in Russia (Mar 2022), with spikes around Oct 2022 (mobilisation).

  • Scale: dataset size (optional but punchy): ~657k tweets.

  • Bot share: bots are a majority in both key clusters (roughly 56–60% of accounts, producing ~72–75% of posts).

In a Psychiatric News opinion column, psychiatrist Katherine Kennedy promotes “quick advocacy” as a simple daily habit for healthcare professionals: spending just five minutes a day taking small actions to counter anti-science narratives and health misinformation. This approach is especially relevant in periods of conflict and crisis, when uncertainty and fear accelerate the spread of false claims about medicine, vaccines, and psychiatric care. The piece argues that even micro-actions –boosting credible information, supporting colleagues’ advocacy, or directly correcting misleading claims- can help protect public trust and strengthen crisis response.

Research Gate: This publication examines how health misinformation spreads on social media in Pakistan and how it shapes public behaviour. Based on qualitative interviews with professionals and university students, it finds that emotional reactions, confirmation bias, echo chambers/filter bubbles, and algorithmic amplification all contribute to the rapid uptake of false health claims. The authors argue that tackling health misinformation requires a combined approach: credible communication, digital/media literacy, and community engagement to strengthen public resilience.

An Open Measures research report analyses the rise of “weather manipulation” conspiracy theories in 2025, showing how natural disasters and political events fuelled spikes in conspiratorial narratives across right-wing platforms. The report finds heavy blaming of US federal agencies (e.g., NOAA, NASA, EPA, FEMA) and notes that Truth Social hosted the highest volume of posts, often amplified by accounts linked to wider extremist conspiracies like QAnon, raising concerns about harassment and threats against officials and scientists.

BMJ feature reports on Poland’s new school health education programme, designed to improve youth health literacy and address risks like online health misinformation and disinformation. The article explains how strong backlash from the Catholic Church and right-wing groups forced the programme to become voluntary, leading to large student withdrawals and raising concerns about long-term impacts on sexual health education and resilience to disinformation.

In depth

A repository of research papers and articles from academia, international organisations, and civil society organisations addressing key questions and trends related to conflict and crisis

Israel–Hamas

A compilation of articles and reports on disinformation linked to the Israel–Hamas war, from propaganda campaigns to online influence efforts.

WAR IN UKRAINE

Curated materials on disinformation surrounding Russia’s war against Ukraine, covering narratives, tactics, and international responses.

Cross-cutting conflict issues

Articles and analyses that trace disinformation themes and tactics appearing across multiple conflicts worldwide.

Health crises

A compilation of articles and reports on disinformation during health crises, from Covid-19 to emerging outbreaks.

Natural disaster crises

Materials on how disinformation exploits earthquakes, floods, fires and other natural disasters to spread fear or mistrust.

Cross-cutting crisis issues

Articles highlighting disinformation tactics and narratives that recur across different crises worldwide.

Multimedia LIBRARY

A collection of webinars and podcasts from us and the wider community, dedicated to conflict and crisis.

Webinars

A collection of our own and community webinars examining how disinformation shapes and fuels conflicts and crises

podcasts

A collection of podcasts examining how disinformation shapes and fuels conflicts and crises

Community resources

Efforts and tools to guarantee a safe information environment during conflicts and crisis

Tools, guides & tips

Practical instruments and digital solutions developed to detect, track, and counter disinformation during conflicts and crises

The Center for Countering Digital Hate offers practical guidance on how to avoid spreading disinformation, to increase your own information resilience, and to practise self-care during conflicts, emergencies, and disasters, and how to report social media posts that spread lies, conspiracies or misleading claims to the different platforms.

Bellingcat provides tools and resources to think critically about sources found online. In this short guide, the organisation gives a few tips on what to consider when confronted with an abundance of footage and claims. 

In January 2022, the Centre for Information Resilience launched the Eyes on Russia Map to collect and verify videos, photos, satellite imagery and other media information related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The map represents the community’s effort to verify, analyze, and map what has happened in Ukraine since the escalation of Russia’s aggression in the country at the start of 2022. The map is a collaborative effort driven by CIR, involving GeoConfirmed, Bellingcat, and a wide range of volunteers and organisations that have supported it. thread for more information about the geolocation of Russian firing positions causing destruction in Ukraine.  

NATO’s official framework for tackling disinformation and information manipulation as national security threats.

This guidance piece offers concrete recommendations for UN missions on navigating information threats in conflict settings.

This RAND practical guide offers a 17-point social media checklist to help responders and citizens counter disaster-related misinformation. Designed as a quick, hands-on tool, it translates research into actionable steps for real-time crisis communication.

BBC Specialist disinformation reporter Marianna Spring shares tips on how to spot fake news and false posts about the war in Ukraine. 

Defend Democracy provides guidance on how to share information responsibly. 

 Human rights defenders, journalists, activists, and others speaking out on these issues are facing repressive tactics both in person and online. This digital resilience tip sheet by Access Now and SMEX supports you in defending against reported threats.

Initiatives & organisations

Community-driven projects and networks working to protect information integrity and support resilience in conflict and crisis contexts

Announced by the European Commission in 2025, the Global Health Resilience Initiative (GHRI) aims to tackle health disinformation globally and strengthen resilience against future health crises. Still in early stages with no defined budget or implementation details.

Note: Political initiative on emerging phase: track for updates.

Supports partnerships local / international, builds societal resilience, counters foreign influence narratives

The organization has built a timeline of how cyberattacks and operations have been targeting critical infrastructure and civilian objects. On June 16, Cyberpeace Institute launched its ‘Cyber Attacks in Times of Conflict Platform #Ukraine’, which includes attacks against not only Ukraine but also the Russian Federation, and other countries impacted by attacks linked to this armed conflict. This Platform also provides a breakdown of attacks by the different sectors affected such as telecommunications, energy, transport, etc., and the harms and impact for people and society.  

A “master framework” for coordinating responses to influence operations, information manipulation, foreign malign influence, etc.

Independent NGO focusing on countering disinformation and state-sponsored propaganda; publishes daily monitoring & analysis.

Provides guides, tools, and lessons to help NGOs defend themselves against mis/disinformation campaigns.

Supports CSOs, media, and governments to counter disinformation in volatile environments and crisis settings.

ZIF provides “one-stop” services and expertise on peace operations integrating training, the secondment of German civilian personnel, international capacity development, research and analysis under one roof. Works on strengthening mission capacities to monitor and push back disinformation that targets missions.

Thematic hubs (ARCHIVE)

This hub is a central space for collecting resource hubs developed in response to major global conflicts and crises that generate high volumes of mis- and disinformation. By documenting and organising responses to these events, it aims to foster a culture of crisis preparedness – equipping institutions, researchers, and civil society with lessons learned and tools for future response.

Currently, it includes archives on the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the Israel-Hamas armed conflict. Each was created in real time to support clarity, counter disinformation, and provide accessible tools and verified information at critical early stages.

While none of the individual hubs are actively updated, they remain available as living archives – a record of the efforts made to navigate chaotic information environments, support public understanding, and resist the spread of harmful falsehoods. We invite researchers, practitioners, and the broader community to explore these repositories and continue building on this work. Reliable, transparent information remains one of the strongest tools in times of crisis.

Resources

Israel-Hamas armed conflict resource hub

Essential information and links to reliable research, analysis and fact-checks to help you navigate during this crisis.

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Resources

Ukraine War Resource Hub

Essential information and links to reliable research, analysis and fact-checks to help you navigate during this crisis.

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Resources

COVID-19 Resource Hub

Check out our resource hub for the coronavirus pandemic, comprising of national, international, and platform responses to the infodemic, as well as research and initiatives.

Read more

Last updated: 29/01/2026

The articles and resources listed in this hub do not necessarily represent EU DisinfoLab’s position. This resource is designed to support open dialogue and highlight a broad range of voices working to counter disinformation in conflict and crisis settings.