How to Track and Investigate Online Disinformation Networks

Behind the chaos of disinformation there are rules, methods, drivers and clearly established hierarchies helping to make disinformation campaigns effective. This talk introduces the essential methods and concepts of networked disinformation and manipulation campaigns and the actors behind them.

With Nicola Bruno

Online disinformation campaigns aim at manipulating the public, creating widespread opinion and attitude shifts, leading to uncertainty, confusion, chaos. But behind this chaos there are rules, methods, drivers and clearly established hierarchies helping to make disinformation campaigns effective. These elements provide us with clues to find entry points and paths to investigate networks of disinformation and their enablers. This talk introduces the essential methods and concepts of networked disinformation and manipulation campaigns and the actors behind them. We will explore a methodology for discovering, mapping and tracking online networks of disinformation in different contexts, looking for connections on multiple platforms and using accessible online resources, tools and study cases.

About the speaker

Nicola Bruno is a journalist and digital culture expert. He is one of the founders of the award-winning organization Dataninja where he manages Open the Box, a project for the dissemination of media and data literacy including three thematic paths on disinformation, social media and artificial intelligence. Since 2010 he has been a partner of Effecinque, where he has worked on several digital investigations using OSINT techniques. He is a visiting lecturer of Visual Storytelling at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy and he was a Journalist Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.

About Us

Tactical Tech is an international non-profit organisation that engages with citizens and civil-society organisations to explore and mitigate the impacts of technology on society. Exposing the Invisible is a Tactical Tech project that develops resources, training and collaborations promoting investigation as one of the most important forms of public engagement.


This event is part of the CIJI project co-funded by the European Union. 

Disclaimer:

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

First published on July 23, 2024