LATEST
How two information portals hide their ties to the Russian news agency InfoRos
In March 2020, we stumbled across articles from a French website called “ObservateurContinental.fr” which had spread disinformation related to COVID-19, including an article repropagating an interview with the US professor of international law Francis Boyle, who had falsely asserted without evidence that the “COVID-19 is a perfect biological weapon”.
Research is a core part of what we do. It involves identifying, uncovering, and explaining disinformation campaigns and networks, using open source investigation techniques (OSINT) and social media network analysis methodologies. We disseminate our findings via our partnerships with the media and leading experts in the field.
Check out all our investigations below
ALL Publications
- Studies
- May 26, 2020
How an anonymous Spanish alternative blog, which spreads disinformation and polarizing content, has been using the Amazon Associates program to fund its activities.
- Blog Posts
- May 11, 2020
From foreign influence, political, lucrative to issue-based, we elaborate on the few faces of disinformation.
- Blog Posts
- April 27, 2020
As the infodemic captures the world, old and new conspiracy theories find a way to take over the public debate. Thanks to our monitoring of independently fact-checked disinformation from France, Italy, and Spain, we have noticed that similar patterns are emerging regarding the types of conspiracy theories deliberately related to COVID-19.
- Blog Posts
- April 14, 2020
In this short piece, we traced back the diffusion and content moderation timeline of a 5G conspiracy video across several social media platforms.
- Editorials
- April 10, 2020
A few words on the need to be cautious with attribution in the context of foreign interference and coronavirus disinformation.
- Blog Posts
- April 2, 2020
As the virus swept across the world, we decided to zoom into the narratives defining what the WHO term as “the infodemic”. Based on our monitoring of independently fact-checked disinformation from France, Italy, and Spain, we have been able to draw trends from the content, such as the strategies and platforms used to disinform.
- Blog Posts
- March 16, 2020
In autumn 2019, we began to look into two disinformation websites, Africa24.info and 24jours.com, which were regularly flagged by some fact-checkers as outlets that spread disinformation.
- Blog Posts
- February 10, 2020
We uncovered a network around linfonational.net, which impersonated politicians on Facebook to amplify disinformation in France. Our investigation shows just how easy it is to use Facebook’s features to manage a disinformation network using political content.
- Studies
- January 15, 2020
How the so-called French media outlet France Libre 24 – which uses disinformation to sow polarisation in society – hides the fact that it’s managed by a Polish far-right network.
- Studies
- November 26, 2019
Over 265 fake local news sites in more than 65 countries are managed by an Indian influence network. How could you know that your local news website, such as newyorkmorningtelegraph.com, thedublingazette.com, or timesofportugal.com serves Indian governmental interests?