The Kremlin’s Digital Pirates: How Russian Tracking Pixels Harvest Romanians’ Data to Fund Conspiracies and Extremism
For five months, we tracked over 100,000 ads displayed across 131 websites in Eastern Europe. After decoding the hidden mechanisms behind these ads, we uncovered a network of Russian companies. This investigation reveals what data is harvested from Romanians, who ends up receiving it, and why the ads shown on platforms with conspiratorial and extremist content are among the most valuable to this network.
Watch the replay: EDMO Belux Lunch Lecture: Facebook Hustles
Edmo Belux Lunch Lecture re-launched on 4 September, with Guillaume Kuster our CEO and Co-Founder as guest speaker.
Facebook Hustles: The Hidden Mechanics of a Scam Machinery Impersonating News Organisations and Creators
In an extensive month-long investigation, our team has unearthed a large-scale scam operation, recruiting its victims on Facebook through ads. This eye-opening discovery not only reveals the sheer scale of the problem but also underscores the urgent need for platforms to take responsibility in enforcing their own rules, especially ahead of the implementation of the DSA. The scam, which involves over 1,500 ads and a network of deceitful media sites, targets unsuspecting users with the promise of lucrative investments, leading to significant financial and personal harm.
CheckFirst joins researchers and stakeholders advocating for access to public data for public interest research
Keeping platforms accountable is at the core of Check First’s mission and values, particularly when evaluating the impact of algorithmic content recommendation on society. Recent changes in the way companies or brands like Twitter and YouTube are altering access to their data are just mere examples of how platforms are affecting civil society’s ability to hold them accountable.
CheckFirst Expands CrossOver Network to Monitor Content Recommendation Algorithms
Volunteers Needed to Host Analysis Devices and Combat Misinformation
Watch the replay: Discover the OSINT Guidelines for public interest investigations
Are you interested in learning more about the latest guidelines and best practices in OSINT research?
CheckFirst signs the ObSINT Guidelines
Uniting Europe’s OSINT community to promote excellence in public-facing investigations, fostering collaboration, and enhancing the impact of open-source intelligence research across the region
The Power of OSINT in Serving the Public Interest in the Fight Against Disinformation
In today’s world, disinformation is a pervasive threat to the integrity of our information ecosystem. At Check First, we are dedicated to empowering the fight against disinformation using Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques such as HUMINT, SIGINT, and GEOINT.
Check First and the Mozilla Foundation partner to extend watch on algorithmic content recommendation
CheckFirst is proud to announce that it has been awarded by the Mozilla Technology Fund to continue running CrossOver for a year in 7 more regions.
Watch the replay: Is China trying to control the narrative about Xinjiang on Google News?
On 28 February 2023, EDMO BELUX and CrossOver jointly organised a webinar to present a study of the Belgian media landscape as aggregated by Google News, a popular tool presenting articles from publishing outlets. Watch the replay: