Propaganda

Why Congress Should Tear Down USAGM’s Firewall

As US adversaries clog global airwaves, US-funded media should advance US interests around the world.

Russia Is Back to Banning Books

Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time,” Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando,” and Stephen King’s “It.” These are just a few victims of book purges happening all over Russia. Every...

Regarding the Proposed Policy Statement Concerning the Suppression of Accuracy in Artificial Intelligence Systems

How Russia turned Lindsey Graham’s death into a propaganda operation

The death of a public figure is a moment to reflect on a life of service and mourn a shared loss.  But in Russia’s information war against the United States, the Kremlin transforms...

A smoking gun in the Solomons proves information shaping by China

Xi Jinping has stated, “The crumbling of a regime always starts in the realm of ideas. Changing the way people think is a long-term process. Once the front lines of human thought have been broken through, other defensive lines also become harder to defend.”

Qatar’s New Online Influence Machine

For years, Qatar has positioned itself in Washington as a trusted American partner: a host to major U.S. military assets, a mediator in hostage negotiations, and a wealthy Gulf state capable...

VIPs This Way Please: FDD Exposes New Stage in Persistent Iranian Recruitment Operation

While Iran hasn’t enjoyed much success on the battlefield against Israel, its covert efforts to degrade Israel’s resilience have been unrelenting. Since October7, 2023, Iran’s intelligence agencies...

The Terrorist Threat Washington Isn’t Hearing

Terrorist groups are exploiting music and audio platforms to spread extremist propaganda, exposing dangerous gaps in online content moderation and counterterrorism coordination.

A NATO ally’s information war: Unmasking Turkey’s global media strategy

A recent investigation into the social media account “Clash Report” illustrates the need for greater alertness among policymakers in Washington and across Europe. While the account appears to...

5 Ways Iran Is Exploiting AI in Warfare

The Islamic Republic of Iran has quietly become one of the world’s most aggressive adopters of artificial intelligence (AI) for warfare, deception, and repression. Tehran’s strategy is coherent and...

Qatar Influence Operations: Unmasking a Suspected Network

How America can fight back against enemy propaganda

As Iran’s viral Lego videos, which spread anti-Western narratives through Lego-style animations and rap tracks, reach global audiences, the State Department’s call for diplomats to fight against...

Tehran’s Looking for a Few Good Spies in Israel

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is running an espionage recruitment operation targeting Israeli military and government personnel, according to new research from FDD’s Center on Cyber...

Regime Revisionism: Tehran’s War Before the Iran War

Rubio Instructs State Department To Actively Combat Adversarial Information Warfare

America is prepared to “take an assertive stance” against information warfare conducted by its adversaries, according to a leaked cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The New...

War of the Words in Iran

Shabaab celebrates October attack on Mogadishu prison in new video

In a new video posted online as a so-called Eid celebration, Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, highlighted and celebrated last year’s assault on the Godka Jilacow prison in Mogadishu, which...

AI-Amplified Narratives: Measuring Propaganda in LLM Citations

AI-Generated Imitation of Elon Musk Pushes China’s Propaganda on YouTube

In late January, FDD identified a YouTube channel, MuskTalk007, filled with AI-generated videos imitating Elon Musk that push pro-China propaganda. Since its creation on December 7, 2024, the channel has amassed almost 2 million views, garnering considerable engagement for videos that denigrate the United States and present China as technologically and economically superior.

Tehran’s triad: propaganda, proxies, and preparedness

The regime in Tehran finds itself increasingly besieged by challenges, ranging from the faltering influence of its regional proxies to the prospect of an Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities, potentially...