Emerging Technologies

Terrorist and extremist groups routinely adopt new technologies to evade law enforcement, ranging from decentralised platforms to generative AI. Our research and advisory work are ahead of the curve in predicting, identifying and responding to these new trends. The research and policy guidance we provide helps frontline practitioners, law enforcement agencies and democratic governments worldwide.

October 22, 2026

US Election Platform Preparedness 2026

Ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections, ISD assessed how social platforms are preparing to protect free and fair elections.

Emerging Technologies, Tech Accountability and Safety

September 3, 2026

Chatbots and the Ballot Box: Evaluating Accuracy, Sourcing, and Language Gaps in AI Answers to Election Questions

Emerging Technologies, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Tech Accountability and Safety

July 28, 2026

Popular image generation models are creating deepfake nudes

Emerging Technologies, Misogyny, Tech Accountability and Safety

July 24, 2026

Highlighting ISD research on AI chatbots and radicalisation risks

Emerging Technologies, Targeted Threats, Hate and Abuse, Tech Accountability and Safety, Terrorism and Extremism

July 14, 2026

ISD finds mainstream social media platforms refer users to ‘nudify’ apps

Emerging Technologies, Misogyny, Tech Accountability and Safety

July 13, 2026

Mapping the ‘Nudify’ Tools Ecosystem

Emerging Technologies, Tech Accountability and Safety, Tech Legislation and Regulation

July 13, 2026

Extremists are using AI to build propaganda — and plan attacks

Emerging Technologies, Islamist Extremism, Terrorism and Extremism

May 29, 2026

Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII) Abuse

Digital Rights and Protections, Emerging Technologies, Misogyny, Tech Accountability and Safety

November 12, 2025

ISD CEO Sasha Havlicek honoured to join Pope Leo XIV’s audience on AI’s ethical and societal challenges

Emerging Technologies, Kids Online Safety, Tech Accountability and Safety

AI-generated videos of Hurricane Melissa undermine public safety

Climate, Emerging Technologies

October 27, 2025

Investigation | Talking points: When chatbots surface Russian state media

As chatbots rival search engines as the go-to source, their vulnerability to state propaganda poses new risks for information integrity.

Emerging Technologies, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation

October 23, 2025

The ecosystem of nonconsensual intimate deepfake tools online

ISD found 31 active SIIA tools easily accessible online, putting women and minors at risk.

Emerging Technologies, Misogyny

October 15, 2025

ISD CEO Sasha Havlicek to speak at the Future of Democracy Conference

ISD’s CEO and Co-Founder Sasha Havlicek took part in The Future of Democracy conference hosted by the Open Markets Institute on October 15.

Accountability and Speech Protection, Emerging Technologies, Freedom of Expression, Tech Accountability and Safety

July 11, 2025

AI blurs reality amid Iran-Israel conflict

ISD’s Isabelle Frances-Wright was featured in a recent NPR piece on AI-generated content that spread during the Iran-Israel conflict.

Emerging Technologies, Information Warfare and Online Manipulation, Recommender Systems and Algorithms

May 6, 2025

Stolen voices: Russia-aligned operation manipulates audio and images to impersonate experts

This ISD Dispatch examines Operation Overload’s latest tactics, narratives and targets during the first quarter of 2025.

Emerging Technologies, Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference

March 4, 2025

Hidden hate: How Amharic is being used to evade hate speech detection on TikTok

The Amharic language is being used on TikTok to evade moderation by mixing it with European languages in order to spread hate speech and bypass filter

Emerging Technologies, Recommender Systems and Algorithms, Terrorism and Extremism

October 30, 2024

ISD’s Elise Thomas for Lawfare: Gen AI will increase misinformation about disinformation

Elise Thomas, OSINT Senior Analyst at ISD, wrote an op-ed for Lawfare on how generative AI amplifies misinformation.

Emerging Technologies, Recommender Systems and Algorithms

September 19, 2024

Platforms fail to label and remove AI-generated and manipulated election content

With the 2024 US election rapidly approaching, ISD has found evidence that platforms are failing to remove or label even the debunked content.

Democratic Integrity, Emerging Technologies, Recommender Systems and Algorithms, Threat Analysis and Prevention

May 17, 2024

The US Senate’s AI policy roadmap is not a road to a safe future

The Senate's AI Roadmap represents a positive step forward, but it is important to recognize that there remains substantial work to be done.

Emerging Technologies, Kids Online Safety, Recommender Systems and Algorithms

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