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

Newsguard: Iranian state media is using wartime propaganda to justify a brutal crackdown on its own citizens. To scare the public, the military-affiliated Fars News Agency twisted a Reuters report to claim that black-market Starlink dishes hidden on civilian rooftops are secretly being used as beacons to guide American attack drones.

In reality, while the U.S. military does use Starlink satellites for drone operations, they use their own high-grade military hardware, not local civilian dishes. The Iranian regime fabricated this “national security threat” to give themselves a terrifying excuse to raid homes, confiscate smuggled Starlink kits, and punish citizens who are just using the satellite internet to bypass state censorship.

CNN: A U.S. Senate investigation revealed that bad actors are using automated AI tools to flood major music streaming services with tens of thousands of fake “podcasts” promoting black-market pharmaceuticals like Adderall, Oxycontin, and Xanax.

These uploads are actually a mass Search Engine Optimization (SEO) spam attack designed to game the platforms’ search bars and funnel users to illicit online pharmacies. Following the probe, Spotify was forced to purge 57,000 individual episodes and 3,500 accounts, while lawmakers warn that similar unvetted drug-spam vulnerabilities are actively being exploited across Amazon Music and iHeart.

A new investigation by Maldita.es reveals that Facebook, Instagram, Google, and TikTok are actively profiting from ads for illegal medications banned by Spanish health authorities. Dangerous products disguised as “food supplements” have racked up hundreds of thousands of views, directly violating the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) despite official government warnings.

The Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, declared a public health emergency by the WHO on 17 May 2026, has been accompanied by a wave of disinformation that is complicating response efforts on the ground.

The Financial Times and The Times report from eastern DRC, where distrust of authorities and widespread rumours have undermined confidence in health interventions. Some residents reportedly question whether the outbreak is real, while others view it through the lens of longstanding political and economic grievances, making public health outreach significantly more challenging.

A report by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung argues that this follows a familiar pattern. Within hours of the WHO declaration, conspiracy accounts were already claiming that Ebola had been engineered in a laboratory, that effective cures were being concealed, and that vaccines posed a greater threat than the disease itself. The report traces these narratives to decades-old disinformation campaigns, including Soviet-era claims that HIV/AIDS was a US bioweapon, arguing that similar themes have since reappeared in discussions surrounding Ebola, COVID-19 and other outbreaks. While the narratives remain familiar, the report warns that modern social media ecosystems and financial incentives have amplified their reach, turning health disinformation into an increasingly profitable business model.

Health Policy Watch: Experts speaking at the World Health Assembly warned that disinformation poses a growing threat to both public health and democratic institutions. They argued how false narratives surrounding outbreaks, vaccines and medical treatments are shaping patient behaviour and undermining trust in health authorities while calling for a stronger tech platforms accountability, investing in community-based resilient efforts and scientific literacy.

Writing for the NATO Association of Canada, Ji Young Kim argues that AI-generated disinformation is creating a “digital fog of war” that can undermine trust and coordination among NATO allies during geopolitical crises. Drawing on examples from the 2026 US–Iran tensions, as well as high-profile deepfake and synthetic media incidents, the article warns that AI-generated content can spread faster than governments can verify it, increasing the risk of confusion and miscalculation in conflict settings.

The hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius in May 2026 triggered not only a public health response but also a rapidly spreading wave of disinformation. The Guardian reports that the US response was marked by an unusual lack of public communication, with the CDC holding no briefings and the State Department leading coordination efforts. Experts argue that staff cuts, weakened health agencies and the US withdrawal from the WHO have reduced outbreak preparedness, while the resulting “radio silence” fuelled anxiety among a public still shaped by the experience of COVID-19.

France 24 fact-checks some of the most widely shared false claims, including allegations that hantavirus is a “plandemic” engineered by pharmaceutical companies, a side effect of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, or a disease that can be treated with ivermectin despite a lack of scientific evidence. The Guardian notes that these narratives were amplified by prominent conspiracy figures and spread rapidly through social media.

EDMO warns that the problem runs deeper still, noting that platform monetisation systems reward viral content regardless of accuracy. The Observatory also highlights how some anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown networks active during the COVID-19 pandemic were later linked to Russian influence operations and the amplification of pro-Kremlin narratives, raising concerns that similar channels could again be exploited to spread disinformation and mobilise anti-establishment sentiment.

Norwegian Government: On 22 May, the foreign ministers of all eight Nordic and Baltic states jointly condemned Russian and Belarusian disinformation over alleged airspace violations in the region. The statement rejected Russian claims that Nordic-Baltic territory had been used to launch attacks against Russia, characterised the campaign as an attempt to divert attention from Russia’s war in Ukraine, and reaffirmed the signatories’ commitment to collective defence and continued support for Ukraine.

ACB News: As Australia faces its largest diphtheria outbreak in decades, misinformation about the disease is spreading rapidly on social media. The article debunks false claims about migrants, vaccine safety and the causes of rising infections, while highlighting expert concerns that declining vaccine confidence and lower vaccination rates are increasing public health risks, particularly in some remote communities

Following the elimination of its senior leadership at the onset of the US-Iran war in February 2026, the Iranian regime fundamentally modernised its information warfare by shifting from traditional, solemn religious iconography to a platform-native “meme war”, according to this publication of ISD.

Financed through government proxy creators like Explosive Media, as reports The New Yorker and The Conversation, and amplified by diplomatic channels, this strategy relies on humorous AI-generated Lego animations, rap tracks, and sarcastic “shitposting” to mock Western leaders and highlight domestic American divisions.

This highly calculated approach essentially builds a persuasive architecture wrapped in pop culture, successfully gaming social media algorithms to bypass news filters and reach younger, politically uninvested audiences who do not typically follow Middle Eastern conflicts.

The impact of this strategic pivot has been unprecedented, effectively transforming global perceptions of a repressive theocracy into that of an irreverent, witty underdog.

According to data from the ISD, posts from official Iranian diplomatic X accounts nearly quadrupled to 40,000, triggering a massive 30-fold spike in likes (from 660,000 to 22 million) and amassing nearly 900 million views within the first 50 days of the war.

Concurrently, coordinated black-market networks like BRICS4CLICKS and Verified4War secured paid Premium verification to algorithmically push unlabelled AI battlefield footage, weaponized deepfakes, and clickbait conspiracy theories that generated over one billion views in a single month, as also published by ISD.

This parallel arms race online has fueled widespread “truth decay,” where reality and simulation collide so seamlessly that legitimate evidence is easily discredited.

Euronews: Russia is using AI-generated deepfake videos of Ukrainian soldiers to erode morale and trust in Ukraine’s military command and institutions. Verified by forensic AI company Sensity AI, the clips mimic authentic frontline footage and depict soldiers expressing despair, criticising their leadership, or normalising surrender. Researchers warn that the greatest danger lies not individual deception but in the cumulative effect of synthetic content shaping perceptions and gradually eroding public trust.

The Conversation: On the 40th anniversary of Chernobyl, researcher Lauren Cassidy draws on declassified Stasi files to reveal the scale of the Soviet and East German disinformation campaign that followed the disaster. While publicly insisting the situation was under control, the KGB and Stasi privately documented extensive contamination, hospitalisations and economic damage. Cassidy argues that the cover-up deepened public distrust in both regimes and contributed to growing disillusionment with the communist system.

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.

Read more

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: 05/06/2026

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.