Information Assurance
From predictions to reality: Digital safety in a year of change
We began this year knowing it was going to be a significant year for digital risk and digital safety. An unprecedented number of elections, brand new online safety legislation under implementation – all taking place against a backdrop of both existing and new conflict and war.
Threat Intelligence and the Hydra of decentralised Extreme Right-Wing organisations
Digital threat intelligence helps us respond to harmful entities and their activities online. As our professional investigation capability evolves, so do the online tactics of threat actors themselves, in something of a perpetual cat and mouse game.
Journalistic integrity and over-vigilance
A lot has happened in the UK political landscape over the past few months; a landslide election with a significant transition of power, and sweeping waves of riots and political violence.
Electoral Integrity 2024: Reviewing the analysis
“2024 is set to be a monumental year for democracy”. We’re just hitting the 2024 election cycle halfway mark and the first sentence of PGI’s 2024 Digital Threat Forecast already feels modest.
How to spot a pseudo-media outlet
Online influence campaigns are becoming increasingly common as political parties and state actors around the world seek to manipulate public opinion.
2024 Elections – Digital threat forecast
2024 is set to be a monumental year for democracy; with over two billion people across 50 countries going to the polls to elect representatives at local, national, and intra-continental levels.
Digital information threat forecast: 2022
Growing hybrid extremism There will be continued challenges in the detection and removal of extremism and disinformation on social media.
The evolution of climate change disinformation
With the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) due to take place in Glasgow from 31 October – 12 November 2022, the PGI Digital Investigations team examined the evolution that climate change disinformation has undergone in recent years, from outright denial of the existence of climate change to partisan politicised manipulation.
The evolving use of social media by militant Islamist groups
Militant Islamist organisations have always manipulated the media, whether to publicise their cause, spread their ideology and aims, or recruit new members.
Inauthentic behaviour on social media is fanning the flames of disinformation about Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest
In the aftermath of Christian Eriksen’s collapse and subsequent cardiac arrest, PGI uncovered coordinated efforts on social media to amplify false claims that the incident was caused by a COVID-19 vaccine.
Troll well for less: Analysing the racist trolling of the Sainsbury’s Christmas advert
Racism on social media is a pervasive issue and while organic statements of prejudice are commonly expressed on platforms like Twitter, some groups and individuals are leveraging the algorithmic architecture of social media to amplify their hostile beliefs.
Malign trolling: Tarnishing reputations and influencing media narratives
The recent online response from inauthentic social media accounts to the events at the Sarah Everard vigil highlights the ongoing and increasing danger of malign trolling activities and their ability to tarnish the reputation of public figures and leverage topical political issues to further conspiratorial and extremist narratives.
The man behind Trump’s Twitter account
Have you ever heard of Dan Scavino? Well, if it makes you feel any better, neither had I until I dived deep into Trump’s now extinct twitter feed.
Parler isn’t the problem: Why de-platforming won’t stop the spread of far-right ideologies in the US
In brief Apple and Google have recently pulled the social networking site Parler from their App stores, stating that the app failed to comply with content moderation requirements.
Unregulated Social Media: Havens for hate?
Unregulated social media – in brief Stricter regulations on large social media platforms are driving some extremists to smaller, unregulated networks.
What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?
The terms misinformation and disinformation are often used interchangeably, but they do differ in nuance.
