For 20 years, ISD has delivered field-leading threat detection, analysis and real-world strategies to combat terrorism, extremism and authoritarianism - in all their ideological forms.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

Democratic societies face a barrage of influence operations from foreign state actors that threaten election integrity, national security and individual rights. ISD is a world leader in identifying, analysing, exposing and combating Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), identifying networks of pro-Kremlin, pro-Chinese and pro-Iranian influence that is manipulative in character and conducted in an intentional and coordinated manner. Actors of such activity can be state or non-state actors, including their proxies inside and outside of their own territory.  

May 27, 2026

All operations on Armenia: Russia’s influence machine targets the vote

Multiple Russian information operations are converging on Armenia in an apparent attempt to influence parliamentary elections on 7 June

Democratic Integrity, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

April 23, 2026

Iran’s diplomats launch a meme war

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

April 15, 2026

How pro-Iran networks gained a billion views on war propaganda

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

April 2, 2026

Foreign actors and foreign influence: An exploratory analysis of international state actors targeting Ireland in 2025

Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour, Data Access and Transparency, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

March 31, 2026

Irish unity, Palestine and Soleimani: Analysis of an Iranian information operation targeting Ireland

Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour, Data Access and Transparency, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

March 14, 2026

Iran floods global social media with AI content during ongoing conflict

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

March 9, 2026

ISD investigation exposes sophistication of Russian interference in EU and beyond

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

March 7, 2026

AI floods the Iran conflict narrative with misinformation and state influence

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

March 5, 2026

A “narrative war” unfolds online after US-Israel strikes on Iran

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

Further Reading

October 11, 2024

Jennie King on the dangers of Hurricane Helene & Milton conspiracies: Undermining trust & hampering relief efforts

ISD's Jennie King spoke to the New York Times about the surge in climate-related conspiracy theories surrounding Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Climate, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

July 11, 2024

Likely falsified Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps document claiming to organize pro-Palestine protest circulates online

This Dispatch explores how falsified documents in ‘hack & leak campaigns’ influence public opinion, analysing a likely false IRGC document about pro-Palestine protests.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

June 27, 2024

Advocates for Palestine and a multipolar world: Information operations by pro-CCP networks targeting Canada 

This briefing details the engagement of pro-CCP actors, Chinese state media, and Canadian alternative media with the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

June 13, 2024

Russian influence operation Doppelganger linked to fringe advertising company

An infamous Russian influence operation has been operating like a scam campaign on social media. ISD’s new investigation may help explain why.

Commercial Disinformation and Scams, Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

May 31, 2024

The Russian Propaganda Nesting Doll: How RT is Layered Into the Digital Information Environment

Over the past year, ASD at GMF, UvA and ISD developed the Information Laundromat, revealing that 400 domains republished RT.com articles in 2023, spreading Russian state media in the EU and US despite bans.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Tech Accountability and Safety

May 23, 2024

Pro-Kremlin Propaganda about Neo-Nazis in Ukraine Targets South Africans Online

This report by ISD and CIR reveals that pro-Kremlin actors are spreading false narratives on social media to depict Ukraine as Nazi-controlled, aiming to justify Russia's invasion and sway South African public opinion.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

April 14, 2024

Misleading and manipulated content goes viral on X in Middle East conflict

Within seven hours of Iranian drones being launched towards Israel, misleading content received over 37 million views on X.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Terrorism and Extremism

April 1, 2024

Pro-CCP Spamouflage campaign experiments with new tactics targeting the US

The pro-CCP network known as Spamouflage is a long-running and widespread but largely ineffective operation. However, there is evidence that the netwo

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Terrorism and Extremism

March 29, 2024

Pro-Kremlin responses to the Moscow terrorist attack in Russia, Germany and Italy

Pro-Kremlin actors have exploited the attack on Crocus City Hall to blame Ukraine and the West, even though the Islamic State’s ‘Khorasan Province’ (ISKP) claimed responsibility for it. This Dispatch analyses online messages from pro-Kremlin actors in Russian, German and Italian.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Terrorism and Extremism

March 19, 2024

“Don’t you want to go on vacation?”: Hawking ‘hijrah’ to the African affiliates of the Islamic State

ISD analyses the Facebook activity of 10 Islamic State alternative news outlets, their promotion of hijrah (immigration) to Africa and the welcomed efforts to sell the continent to a base accustomed to supporting the group's actions in Syria and Iraq.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Islamist Extremism

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