Noise without effect: anti-Pashinyan disinformation on the rise ahead of Armenian parliamentary elections
We spent one month ahead of Armenian parliamentary elections monitoring disinformation spread by foreign Information Manipulation Sets and tracking what recommendation algorithms were pushing to diaspora users searching for content about the vote.
Research Note: Meta’s Role in Romania’s 2024 Presidential Election
Check First, with the help of Reset Tech, EU DisinfoLab and independent journalists Luiza Vasiliu and Victor Ilie publish the flash research note “Ads, Influence, and Democracy: Meta’s Role in Romania’s 2024 Presidential Election.” This note offers critical insights into the influence of digital platforms on public opinion and the electoral process in Romania during a politically pivotal moment.
EU DisinfoLab 2024 conference: our key takeaways from #Disinfo2024
In an ever-evolving digital landscape, EU DisinfoLab serves as a vital hub for our community of actors striving for a safer online environment. The civil society community, policymakers, platforms representatives and regulators gathered in Riga, Latvia, on October 9 and 10 for two days of discussions centered around all the aspects of disinformation.
Operation Overload: A Growing Disinformation Threat Now Targeting the U.S. Presidential Election
Continuing the collaboration between Check First and Reset Tech, our latest findings confirm that the operation is based in Russia. We also describe how Operation Overload has now shifted its focus to the U.S., putting the bull’s eye on Kamala Harris.
The TikTok effect: How The App Shaped Political Discourse During Finnish European Elections
After focusing on YouTube & Google, a new report by Faktabaari and CheckFirst as part of the CrossOver Finland project has uncovered worrying trends around TikTok’s possible impact on the 2024 European elections in Finland.
Operation Overload: how pro-Russian actors flood newsrooms with fake content and seek to divert their efforts
“Please Check”. More than 800 organisations, among which many media outlets have been flooded with emails and social media mentions urging them to verify dubious claims undermining Ukraine, France and Germany for the most part. The issue is that these solicitations are part of a massive pro-Russian operation, still ongoing at the time of writing.
Unchecked Political Ads: A Surge of Pro-Russian Propaganda on Meta’s Platforms Ahead of EU Elections
Between May 1 and May 27, 2024, Meta approved at least 275 pro-Russian propaganda ads targeting Italy, Germany, France, and Poland. These ads, lacking the required political disclaimers, reached over three million accounts across these nations.
New report: Confusing Google search predictions and Google News sources, and unbalanced politics on TikTok and Instagram
Last March, Faktabaari & CheckFirst showed the significant over-representation of right-wing voices in YouTube’s video recommendations during the Finnish presidential election.
Facebook Hustles (continued): European Commission cracks down on Meta for letting fraudulent ads through
We welcome the action from the European Commission to open formal proceedings into Meta’s Facebook and Instagram over suspected breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA). Last June, we revealed how nefarious ads leading users into a massive scam operation could be found on the platforms, despite being against their terms of service. Almost one year later, similar ads can still easily be found on Meta’s services.
Mozilla commissions CheckFirst to conduct a stress test of Ad Repositories
We’re proud to publish today together with the Mozilla Foundation the first comprehensive report on the state of ad libraries which have emerged or been strengthened by requirements under the European Digital Services Act.