Disinformation, Strategic Communications and Open Source Research Programme

The DISCOS research programme has achieved significant international acclaim for its work over the past decade seeking to understand the organisation, conduct and impacts of foreign state information operations and disinformation campaigns.

Globally it is one of the largest and most sustained scientific efforts in this area, blending both applied and academic approaches.

Our current portfolio of work includes:

• UK Government funding to study both the transmission and reception of disinforming, distorting and deceptive communications at home and abroad. This involves working with the following departments: Home Office; FCDO; MOD; DSIT and Cabinet Office.
• ‘Influence, Manipulation, and Information Threats as Adversarial Techniques: Events, Evolution and Effects’ (IMITATE3) project is designed to deliver robust, innovative insights and evidence about how foreign state information operations seek to shape public perceptions and political decision-making. Funded jointly by the ESRC and US Dept of Defence it is a three year, multi-million pound effort, undertaken jointly with Princeton, Columbia, Bath and Coventry universities.
• ADAC.io is an EU Horizon2020 project led by Lund University. The particular focus of this work is to improve how responsibility for information manipulation and interference is defined, detected and described.
• Measuring the Impact of Foreign State Information Operations on the UK : funded under the auspices of the ESRC Centre for Research Evidence on Security Threats, this project will undertake conceptual, methodological and empirical work to establish better estimates and indicators of the impacts and effects of information manipulation.
• Resilience Beyond Observed Capabilities: this EPSRC Network+ consortium is focused upon future threat scenarios and how they might be mitigated. Cardiff is providing subject matter expertise on the role of information manipulation and control in exacerbating the crisis.
• Network+ Behavioural Science: led by Lancaster University for ESRC, this network is working on the application of behavioural science to understanding, managing and mitigating a range of contemporary security challenges.

Research highlights

Impact

• Working with the BBC in 2024 to identify how a Russian information operation amplified conspiracies about the health of the Princess of Wales. This generated over 352 global media articles with an estimated audience reach of over 7Bn people.
• In the lead-up to the 2020 US Presidential election, we identified a network of accounts linked to China pushing ‘ballot burning’ conspiracies. Our work resulted in over 400 accounts being removed prior to voting day.
• Working with a small group of civil society partners, we detected an influence operation run by Russian operatives was seeking to promote a disinformation narrative about Brexit and the NHS shortly prior to the 2019 UK General Election.
• Research we published in 2021 provided a detailed account of how Russian operatives were working to deliberately manipulate the content of reader comments sections of high-profile media outlets in over 16 countries.
• Documenting how social media accounts used by the Russian Internet Research Agency to interfere in the 2016 US Presidential election, were also used to try and sow discord and doubt following the 2017 terrorist attacks in the UK

Publications

Research unit lead