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

April 2, 2023

A new take at an old conspiracy: “In this iteration, ‘they’ are going to make you eat bugs”

ISD's Ciarán O'Connor shares insights with NPR on the spread of conspiracies about eating bugs that has become prevalent on social media.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Threat Analysis and Prevention

March 8, 2023

‘Climate Lockdown’

Climate lockdown’ is a conspiracy theory alleging global elites exploit climate change to justify curtailing freedoms and civil liberties.

Climate, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

March 2, 2023

Conspiratorial opposition to 15-minute cities in UK draws on anti-government “architecture”

ISD's Milo Comerford features in Bloomberg discussing how local opposition to '15-minute' cities in Oxford has been weaponised internationally.

Democratic Integrity, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence

February 27, 2023

Conspiracy on 15-minute cities may have worrying, long-term impacts on climate action

ISD's Jennie King spoke to CNN about the origin of the 15-minute city conspiracy and why it's causing such an uproar on social media.

Democratic Integrity, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Hybrid Extremism and Nihilistic Violence, Threat Analysis and Prevention

February 24, 2023

News sources may be influencing perception of climate activism among public

ISD’s recent Dispatch on alt- and mainstream media climate activism headlines is covered extensively by Euronews Green.

Climate, Democratic Integrity, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

February 23, 2023

Webinar: How Russian-state media outlets circumvented sanctions

ISD's Kevin D. Reyes and Jordan Wildon are featured speakers for a webinar, discussing how we used Maltego.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Tech Legislation and Regulation

February 23, 2023

‘Smash-and-grab’ Russian-origin accounts flood Meta platforms with Ukraine war disinformation

ISD's Tim Squirrell features in Sky News commenting on findings from Meta's quarterly adversarial threat report.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Tech Accountability and Safety

February 23, 2023

Tim Squirrell: Meta’s conclusions on pro-Kremlin online campaigns “difficult” to assess

ISD's Tim Squirrell features in ABC News commenting on Meta's report on the evolution of pro-Russia online campaigns since the war began. 

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Tech Accountability and Safety

February 21, 2023

Putin’s annual address filled with conspiracies over war in Ukraine

ISD's Julia Smirnova comments on Putin's annual address to the nation to German broadcaster ARD.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

February 10, 2023

Inside the Digital Labyrinth: Right-Wing Extremist Strategies of Decentralisation on the Internet & Possible Countermeasures

This report presents the key findings of the 2022 project "Countering Radicalisation in Right-Wing Extremist Online Subcultures".

Far-Right Extremism, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Gaming and Alternative Platforms, Terrorism and Extremism

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