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Cyber based influence campaigns 22nd – 28th June 2026 Report
- CRC
- 22 hours ago
- 30 min read
Updated: 9 hours ago
[Introduction]
Cyber-based hostile influence campaigns are aimed at influencing target audiences by promoting information and/or disinformation over the internet, sometimes combined with cyber-attacks which enhance their effect (hence force Cyfluence, as opposed to cyber-attacks that aim to steal information, extort money, etc.) Such hostile influence campaigns and operations can be considered an epistemological branch of Information Operations (IO) or Information Warfare (IW).
Typically, and as customary during the last decade, the information is spread throughout various internet platforms, which are the different elements of the hostile influence campaign, and as such, connectivity and repetitiveness of content between several elements are the main core characteristics of influence campaigns.
Hostile influence campaigns, much like Cyber-attacks, have also become a tool for rival nations and corporations to damage reputation or achieve various business, political or ideological goals. Much like in the cyber security arena, PR professionals and government agencies are responding to negative publicity and disinformation shared over the news and social media.
We use the term cyber based hostile influence campaigns, as we include in this definition also cyber-attacks aimed at influencing (such as hack and leak during election time), while we exclude of this term other types of more traditional kinds of influence such as diplomatic, economic, military etc.
During the 22nd to the 28th of June 2026, we observed, collected and analyzed endpoints of information related to cyber based hostile influence campaigns (including Cyfluence attacks). The following report is a summary of what we regard as the main events. Some of the mentioned campaigns have to do with social media and news outlets solemnly, while others leverage cyber-attack capabilities.
[Contents]
[Social Media Platforms]
X
[State Actors]
Russia
Ukraine
China
[AI Related Articles]
[General Reports]
[Appendix - Frameworks to Counter Disinformation]
[ Report Highlights]
Leaked files from Russia's Social Design Agency reveal Project 2026, a plan to build fake Wikipedia-style sites, phony think tanks, and fabricated media outlets to shape how AI models and search engines understand political issues, run with consultant-style performance targets and achieving up to 86 million views per fabricated story.
The Kyiv Independent documents how Russia's Matryoshka bot network exploited an active political dispute between Poland and Ukraine over a UPA unit title on 22 June to spread fabricated claims invoking Nazism and a fake statement attributed to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum director, using false logos of Euronews, Der Spiegel, and ISW.
A joint EEAS-CCD report documented Russian FIMI systematically targeting Ukraine's EU accession path, with approximately 244,000 publications generating 1.39 billion views between January 2025 and May 2026, deploying a structured network of state and state-linked assets to portray Ukraine as incompatible with European values and EU membership as costly and risky for both parties.
NewsGuard identified a network of 294 coordinated Threads accounts posing as Taiwanese-targeted dating profiles in what researchers assess as pre-positioning ahead of Taiwan's November 2026 local elections, with 40% of accounts following naming patterns associated with a prior network that spread narratives critical of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
NewsGuard's June 2026 AI Tracking Center update documents 3,749 AI Content Farm news websites across 16 languages, 358 directly linked to Russia's Storm-1516 operation, and finds that leading AI chatbots now generate false claims in response to news prompts more than one-third of the time, nearly double the prior-year rate.
An eLife study found that exposure to potentially unreliable information strengthened a positivity bias and increased reliance on credible sources, meaning disinformation alters not only what people believe but also the learning mechanisms through which they process subsequent information, increasing the weight placed on positive feedback from trusted sources.
Brazil enters October 2026 elections with one of the world's most detailed AI election governance frameworks, including a deepfake ban, mandatory AI content labelling, and candidate-ranking restrictions, while Cate Blanchett presented the Human Consent Registry at the European Parliament on 24 June. Mexico unveiled a National Cybersecurity Plan specifically identifying AI-enabled disinformation as a primary threat.
[ Report Summary]
DisinfoWatch identified a U.S. based X account with 678,000 followers promoting unsupported claims against Alberta's provincial government, including assertions linking officials to criminal child trafficking, misleading claims about Premier Smith's role in vaccine-related employment policies, and a false claim that Albertans will never receive a genuine independence referendum, despite a provincial referendum being scheduled for October 19th, 2026.
Leaked files from Russia's Social Design Agency reveal Project 2026, a plan to build fake Wikipedia-style sites, phony think tanks, and fabricated media outlets to shape how AI models and search engines understand political issues, run with consultant-style performance targets and achieving up to 86 million views per fabricated story.
An Atlantic Council analysis documents Russia's expanding hybrid warfare campaign against Western democracies, combining sabotage, cyber operations, election interference, and weaponised migration in a sustained effort to undermine democratic institutions and weaken Western support for Ukraine, including the documented use of Telegram-recruited assets to conduct arson attacks at properties linked to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
A Jamestown Foundation analysis documents a Russian soft power offensive in Georgia conducted through cultural diplomacy, language promotion, and educational programmes, with Russian presidential representative Mikhail Shvydkoy's June 2026 Tbilisi visit framing Russian language initiatives and cultural events as a pathway to restore trust, which Georgian civil society figures assess as promoting narratives designed to normalize a shared Russian Georgian identity.
The Kyiv Independent documents how Russia's Matryoshka bot network exploited an active political dispute between Poland and Ukraine over a UPA unit title on 22 June to spread fabricated claims invoking Nazism and a fake statement attributed to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum director, using false logos of Euronews, Der Spiegel, and ISW.
A Kyiv Post analysis identifies how Russia systematically exploits ambiguous diplomatic language, deploying terms such as 'negotiations,' 'battlefield realities,' and 'neutrality' to reduce Western support for Ukraine while embedding demands for Ukrainian capitulation within the cognitive architecture of international diplomacy.
A joint EEAS-CCD report documented Russian FIMI systematically targeting Ukraine's EU accession path, with approximately 244,000 publications generating 1.39 billion views between January 2025 and May 2026, deploying a structured network of state and state-linked assets to portray Ukraine as incompatible with European values and EU membership as costly and risky for both parties.
EUvsDisinfo's ongoing disinformation review documents Kremlin-aligned channels promoting false claims of Russian military success, including persistent claims of capturing Kupyansk and Mala Tokmachka that contradicted open-source intelligence and Ukrainian authorities, as Russia's battlefield progress slowed and Ukrainian tactical momentum partially recovered.
An ASPI Strategist analysis argues that countering Chinese state-linked disinformation targeting Japan should become a standing mission for Australia-Japan intelligence cooperation, following documented escalation in Beijing's overt influence operations against Tokyo since Prime Minister Takaichi took office in October 2025.
NewsGuard identified a network of 294 coordinated Threads accounts displaying signs of inauthentic coordination, including synchronised posting patterns, AI-generated profile images, and naming conventions linked to a prior DPP-critical network, posing as Taiwanese-targeted dating profiles in what researchers assess as pre-positioning ahead of Taiwan's November 2026 local elections.
NewsGuard's June 2026 AI Tracking Center update documents 3,749 AI Content Farm news websites across 16 languages, 358 directly linked to Russia's Storm-1516 operation, and finds that leading AI chatbots now generate false claims in response to news prompts more than one-third of the time, nearly double the prior-year rate.
An international security forum analysis published on 27 June documents the structural evolution of state-sponsored influence operations as AI integration reshapes campaign architecture, finding that AI enhancement is reducing human resource requirements for large-scale disinformation while simultaneously increasing geographic targeting precision and narrative adaptability.
NewsGuard Reality Check documented major brand advertisers including Adobe, Disney, Verizon, and Fox inadvertently funding AI content farms fabricating stories about the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, through programmatic advertising systems that place ads based on traffic volume rather than editorial standards, with fabricated articles amplified via a network of Facebook pages posting fake breaking-news graphics.
Business Day documents that Africa's information environment faces a structurally unaddressed AI disinformation threat through synthetic audio distributed via radio and encrypted messaging platforms, with voice-cloning detection tools performing poorly on African-language audio and existing counter-disinformation frameworks focused almost entirely on text and video content.
YouGov's Trust in Media 2026 survey finds trust declined for most of 48 measured U.S. news outlets, with sharply deepening partisan divides, 70% of respondents concerned about deepfakes spreading disinformation, and continued multi-generational fragmentation of the American information environment.
An analysis in The Conversation examining the legacy of former ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, who died on 9 June 2026, documents how under Raymond's leadership Exxon directed millions of dollars to climate denial organisations, with over 80% of paid editorial advertisements promoting scientific doubt during a period when the company's own scientists were producing accurate early warming models.
A Jamestown Foundation profile of Akhtar Nadeem, also known as Gwahram Baloch, a senior BLF spokesperson and propagandist, documents the organisation's expanded media operations including the publications Ispar and Sarmachar, multilingual video content, and structured messaging addressing AI applications in Baloch armed operations.
British Council research finds that young people in the Western Balkans often assess information credibility based on who shared it, familiarity with the source, and 'official-looking' signals rather than through verification, with information overload creating anxiety and distrust, and sharing behaviour driven by social belonging rather than genuine belief in the accuracy of what is being shared.
An eLife study found that exposure to potentially unreliable information strengthened a positivity bias and increased reliance on credible sources, meaning disinformation alters not only what people believe but also the learning mechanisms through which they process subsequent information, increasing the weight placed on positive feedback from trusted sources.
NewsGuard launched 'NewsGuard AI' on June 25th, the first AI chatbot drawing exclusively from 12,000 editorially vetted sources, backed by a 64,000 false claim guardrail and a 50-50 publisher revenue-sharing model, positioning it as a structural counter-architecture to the AI Content Farm ecosystem NewsGuard has simultaneously been cataloguing.
A new ASPI report proposes a formal intelligence-led framework for Australia-Japan counter-disinformation cooperation, recommending dedicated mission leads in both countries' intelligence agencies, joint annual narrative-risk assessments, and crisis simulation exercises targeting Chinese and Russian state-linked information operations.
Recorded Future analysis of Mexico's new National Cybersecurity Plan identifies ransomware, AI-enabled disinformation, hacktivism, and state-sponsored cyber activity as primary threats, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Mexico expected to elevate risks across all four categories significantly.
Anchor Change documents Brazil's October 2026 election regulatory framework as one of the world's most detailed, including a deepfake ban in campaign materials, mandatory AI content labelling, restrictions on AI systems recommending candidates, and a 90-day deadline to build a national enforcement tools catalogue, situating Brazil as a reference model for AI election governance.
Cate Blanchett introduced the Human Consent Registry at the European Parliament on June 24th 2026, a free tool allowing individuals to record whether AI systems may use their name, image, voice, and other personal attributes, providing a practical consent mechanism in an environment where unauthorised deepfakes and synthetic likenesses have become pervasive.
The Council of Europe's Monaco Presidency launched the 'Youth Facing Disinformation: Why Journalists Matter' programme, including a Strasbourg conference, year-long youth working groups, an audiovisual awareness campaign, and EUR 5,000 grants for youth-led projects addressing disinformation, media literacy, journalists' safety, and freedom of expression.
[Social Media Platforms]
X
False Claims about Alberta Government Published by X Influencer
An analysis published by DisinfoWatch states that a U.S.-based X account with 678,000 followers promoted a cluster of unsupported claims against Alberta's provincial government, asserting without evidence that the government is controlled by a criminal child-trafficking and money-laundering operation, that Premier Danielle Smith enabled the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta to endanger children and punish unvaccinated health workers, and that Albertans will never receive a genuine independence referendum. DisinfoWatch's analysis identified these claims as presenting a false picture of Alberta's political, medical, and democratic institutions, noting that several allegations are presented without supporting evidence or documentation.
An analysis published by DisinfoWatch states that the assertion that Albertans will never have an opportunity to vote on independence is not supported by the current public record; Alberta has scheduled a provincial referendum for 19 October 2026, including a question related to the process for a potential separation referendum. While citizen-led independence initiatives have faced legal and procedural challenges, DisinfoWatch notes that those obstacles do not in themselves demonstrate a coordinated effort to prevent a vote, and that the claims linking Premier Smith to COVID-19 vaccine employment policies are also misleading, as Alberta Health Services implemented and later rescinded those policies before Smith became premier.
Source: DisinfoWatch. Florida-Based X Influencer Pushes Baseless Child-Trafficking Claim About Alberta Government. [online]. Published 22 June 2026. Available at:
[State Actors]
Russia
Russia's Wiki Warfare Tries to Distort Reality, Documents Show
An investigation published by Bloomberg states that leaked files from Russia's Social Design Agency (SDA), an entity sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union for directing Kremlin disinformation, reveal a plan called Project 2026, which sets out to construct a sprawling network of Wikipedia-style reference sites, phony think tanks, and fake media outlets designed to shape how people and AI language models understand key political issues. The 73 leaked files, spanning May 2023 to April 2026, show the operation is run with the structured discipline of a Western consulting firm, complete with performance targets, case studies, and opinion-tracking systems, a significant evolution beyond the quota-driven approach of earlier Kremlin troll farms.
An investigation published by Bloomberg states that a September 2025 assessment of one SDA-produced fabricated story, claiming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky purchased his mother two apartments in Dubai's Burj Khalifa, showed the story reaching 86 million views, with 10 million attributable to 19 project contractors sharing it on social media. A second fake story about Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan buying a French villa received 10.6 million views, with internal SDA chat logs documenting how it forced Pashinyan to publicly deny the allegations, demonstrating the operation's ability to translate manufactured narratives into real-world political pressure.
Source: Bloomberg. Leaked Files Show Russia’s Plan to Influence AI and Search Results. [online] Published 23 June 2026. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-23/leaked-files-show-russia-s-plan-to-influence-ai-and-search-results
Russia Intensifies Shadow War to Undermine Support for Ukraine
An analysis published by the Atlantic Council states that Russia is conducting an expanding hybrid warfare campaign against Western countries, combining acts of sabotage, cyber operations, election interference, and weaponised migration in a sustained effort to undermine democratic institutions, deepen social divisions, and weaken Western support for Ukraine. The analysis documents an incident in which a Ukrainian citizen was recruited through Telegram by a Russian-linked organiser and convicted in connection with arson attacks at properties linked to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, illustrating how Russian handlers use encrypted platforms to recruit and direct assets operating inside Western countries without direct personal contact.
An analysis published by the Atlantic Council states that Western intelligence officials and NATO members have assessed Russia's activities as a coordinated campaign to challenge Western societies below the threshold of conventional warfare, combining disinformation operations with physical sabotage and cyber attacks in what analysts characterise as a deliberately ambiguous hybrid strategy. The analysis recommends that governments strengthen cooperation, improve resilience against hybrid threats, and treat disinformation and related influence operations as components of a sustained strategic campaign rather than isolated incidents, requiring doctrine, resources, and inter-agency coordination matched to the persistent, cross-domain nature of the threat.
Source: Atlantic Council. Russia Intensifies Shadow War to Undermine Support for Ukraine. [online] Published 23 June 2026. Available at: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/russia-intensifies-shadow-war-to-undermine-support-for-ukraine/ (atlanticcouncil.org).
Russia Expanding Soft Power in Georgia via Culture and Language
A report published by the Jamestown Foundation states that Russia is expanding its soft power presence in Georgia through cultural diplomacy, language promotion, educational initiatives, and sponsored public events, with presidential representative Mikhail Shvydkoy visiting Tbilisi in June 2026 to lead Russian-sponsored cultural activities framed as a pathway to restore trust between the two countries. Russian officials presented these initiatives as grounded in shared history, language, and civilizational connection, terminology that critics and Georgian civil society figures assess as promoting narratives designed to increase Russian influence and reinforce the concept of a shared Russian Georgian identity.
A report published by the Jamestown Foundation states that protests have accompanied several Russian-language and cultural events in Georgia, reflecting public concerns that such activities serve broader political objectives rather than purely cultural ones. The report identifies the promotion of the Russian language through competitions, educational programmes, and outreach to Georgian teachers and youth as a particularly significant dimension of the operation, documenting a pattern in which culturally coded soft power activities operate as a long-term influence infrastructure, gradually normalising pro-Russian narratives within Georgian society while maintaining plausible deniability as civilian cultural exchange.
Source: The Jamestown Foundation. Russia Expanding Soft Power in Georgia via Culture and Language. [online] Published 25 June 2026. Available at: https://jamestown.org/russia-expanding-soft-power-in-georgia-via-culture-and-language/
Ukraine
Russian Disinformation Takes Aim at Poland-Ukraine Rift
A fact-check published by the Kyiv Independent states that the Matryoshka bot network deployed fake social media posts on 22 June 2026 exploiting a Polish Ukrainian political dispute over a military unit being granted a title honouring the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), presenting the rift as evidence of rampant 'Nazism' among Ukrainian elites. The operation, detected by the Antibot4Navalny monitoring group, fabricated a statement by Piotr Cywinski, a Polish historian and director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, falsely claiming he called for barring President Zelensky from Holocaust commemoration events.
A fact-check published by the Kyiv Independent states that Matryoshka posts employed a signature technique of the operation: overlaying fabricated text on unrelated stock footage while attaching the logos of Euronews, Der Spiegel, and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) to lend false credibility. The bot network generated approximately 30,000 views per post on X, though Antibot4Navalny noted that Matryoshka routinely inflates view counts, making authentic reach difficult to establish, a deliberate component of the operation's strategy to create the impression of organic widespread resonance for manufactured narratives targeting EU and NATO audiences.
Source: Kyiv Independent. Fact Check: Russian Disinformation Takes Aim at Poland-Ukraine Rift. [online] Published 23 June 2026. Available at: https://kyivindependent.com/fact-check-russian-disinformation-takes-aim-at-poland-ukraine-rift/
Russia Tweaks Language to Deceive the West
An analysis published by Kyiv Post states that Russia's use of the word 'negotiations' functions as a systematic cognitive warfare instrument, with Moscow openly stating readiness for 'talks' while simultaneously insisting on conditions amounting to Ukrainian capitulation, including permanent NATO exclusion, severe military limitations, and Ukrainian recognition of territories seized by illegal referendum. The analysis identifies how Russian officials deploy terms such as 'battlefield realities' and 'neutrality' to generate Western pressure on Kyiv while insulating Moscow from accountability for blocking any genuine ceasefire process.
An analysis published by Kyiv Post states that the Kremlin's linguistic manipulation extends to framing Russian-installed collaborators in occupied Ukraine as 'separatists', a term that implies popular local agency rather than externally imposed occupation, and deploying the phrase 'special military operation' to deny the legal and moral character of a full-scale war of aggression. The analysis argues that Western actors who adopt Kremlin framing uncritically enable the information operation, as the repeated use of Russian-defined terms shapes the cognitive architecture within which policy options are evaluated, gradually shifting the perceived space of legitimate responses away from Ukrainian sovereignty.
Source: Kyiv Post. OPINION: ‘Negotiations’ Are Traps – How Russia Tweaks Language to Deceive the West. [online] Published 28 June 2026. Available at: https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/78980 (kyivpost.com).
New EEAS-CCD Report Exposes Russian FIMI Targeting Ukraine's EU Future
An article published by EUvsDisinfo states that a joint analytical report by the European External Action Service and Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation documented how Russian Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) operations are systematically targeting Ukraine's path towards European Union membership, with monitors observing approximately 244,000 publications on Ukraine's accession between January 2025 and May 2026 generating a combined 1.39 billion views. The report identifies a structured network of state, state-linked, and aligned information assets promoting recurring narratives that portray Ukraine as incompatible with European values, depict accession as an elite-driven process detached from public interests, and frame EU membership as costly and risky for both parties.
An article published by EUvsDisinfo states that Russia views Ukraine's integration into the EU as a direct threat to its regional influence, and has deployed coordinated information activities within a broader hybrid campaign that exploits fears related to corruption, security, identity, and economic costs through AI-enabled content production, cross-platform amplification, and information laundering. The report calls for closer cooperation between Ukraine, the EU, and international partners through information sharing, strategic communication, digital regulation, sanctions, and resilience-building initiatives, situating counter-FIMI policy as a structural requirement of the EU enlargement process rather than a peripheral security measure.
Source: EUvsDisinfo. New EEAS-CCD Report Exposes Russian FIMI Targeting Ukraine’s EU Future. [online] Published 23 June 2026. Available at: https://euvsdisinfo.eu/new-eeas-ccd-report-exposes-russian-fimi-targeting-ukraines-eu-future/ (euvsdisinfo.eu).
Russian False Military Claims as Battlefield Gains Slow
A review published by EUvsDisinfo states that as Russia's battlefield gains have slowed and Ukraine has regained some tactical momentum, Kremlin-aligned information channels have increasingly promoted exaggerated or false claims of military success, including persistent claims of the capture of Ukrainian towns such as Kupyansk and Mala Tokmachka that persisted despite reports from Ukrainian authorities and open-source intelligence indicating both locations remained under Ukrainian control. At the same time, Russian information operations sought to shape perceptions of Ukrainian strikes on Russian military logistics and energy infrastructure by portraying them as attacks on civilians and evidence of Western escalation.
A review published by EUvsDisinfo states that pro-Kremlin outlets portrayed Ukrainian strikes as targeting civilians and as evidence that Ukraine is unwilling to pursue peace, while some Russian officials simultaneously acknowledged that many strikes were aimed at military supply networks rather than civilian targets, demonstrating the internally inconsistent nature of the information campaign, which prioritises domestic audience management and Western perception shaping over factual coherence. The analysis situates these information efforts within a pattern of Russian operational communication increasingly designed to manage public perceptions of the war as Russia faces mounting casualties and diminishing battlefield returns, rather than to accurately inform either Russian or international audiences.
Source: EUvsDisinfo. Still at War: Russia’s Disinformation Targeting Ukraine. [online] Published 25 June 2026. Available at: https://euvsdisinfo.eu/still-at-war-russias-disinformation-targeting-ukraine/ (euvsdisinfo.eu).
China
Countering Disinformation Could Anchor Australia-Japan Intelligence Cooperation
An analysis published by ASPI's The Strategist states that Australia and Japan are both targets of state-linked disinformation campaigns designed to exploit historical grievances, domestic political divisions, and alliance anxieties, with Beijing ratcheting up its information operations against Japan significantly since Sanae Takaichi became Prime Minister in October 2025. The analysis documents an information offensive conducted through overt propaganda channels, including Chinese state media, as well as through networks of social media influencers, inauthentic accounts, and bots amplifying Beijing's narratives across the regional information environment.
An analysis published by ASPI's The Strategist states that Beijing's reaction to Japan's May 2026 intelligence reforms demonstrates that even legitimate democratic governance measures will be contested in the information domain, with Chinese state media and diplomatic accounts coordinating campaigns to portray the reforms as destabilising. The analysis recommends that mission leads be appointed in Australia's Office of National Intelligence and Japan's newly established National Intelligence Agency, alongside a standing bilateral forum on information integrity producing annual narrative-risk assessments and crisis simulations, positioning counter-disinformation as a structural feature of the alliance rather than an ad hoc response to individual incidents.
Source: Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Countering Disinformation Could Anchor Australia–Japan Intelligence Cooperation. [online] Published 26 June 2026. Available at: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/countering-disinformation-could-anchor-australia-japan-intelligence-cooperation/
Chinese Network Launches Hundreds of Fake Accounts to Influence the Next Taiwanese Election
A report published by NewsGuard states that a network of 294 coordinated Threads accounts displaying multiple signs of inauthentic coordination, including similar naming conventions, synchronised posting patterns, identical profile content, and repurposed or AI-generated images, has been operating as attractive Asian women seeking relationships with Taiwanese men, with researchers assessing the accounts as positioned to build audiences and credibility ahead of Taiwan's November 2026 local elections. The network shares characteristics with previously identified China-linked influence operations targeting Taiwan, with 40% of accounts following naming patterns associated with a network that previously spread narratives critical of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
A report published by NewsGuard states that account location data, cultural inaccuracies in posts about Taiwan, and posting schedules aligned with standard working hours in China indicate the operators are likely based outside Taiwan. The analysis assesses the accounts as designed to establish relationships, collect audience information, and build online reach before potentially being deployed to amplify coordinated messaging around politically significant events, a well-documented tactic in which networks established as socially benign are repurposed for political influence operations once they have accrued sufficient followers and engagement history to avoid rapid platform detection.
Source: NewsGuard Technologies. Chinese Network Launches Hundreds of Fake Dating Accounts to Influence the Next Taiwanese Election. [online] Published 24 June 2026. Available at: https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/chinese-network-launches-hundreds-of-fake-dating-accounts-to-influence-the-next-taiwanese-election/ (newsguardtech.com).
[AI Related Articles]
Tracking AI-Enabled Misinformation
A report published by NewsGuard states that its AI Tracking Center, updated 23 June 2026, has identified 3,749 AI Content Farm news and information websites operating across 16 languages, sites that use AI tools to produce substantial volumes of content without disclosure, presenting synthetic material as human-authored journalism. The center identifies 358 of these sites as directly linked to Storm-1516, a pro-Russian influence operation that creates fabricated content on sites designed to resemble local newspapers in the United States and Europe, targeting audiences unlikely to encounter mainstream fact-checking.
A report published by NewsGuard states that an audit of the 10 leading generative AI tools found the rate of generating false claims in response to news prompts has nearly doubled, with AI chatbots now providing false information more than one-third of the time. NewsGuard confirmed specific instances, including an AI-edited image purportedly showing an Iranian missile (the original predating the March 2026 conflict) and images circulating as purported photographs of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro that in fact depicted former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from December 2003, illustrating the compounding risk created when AI models are trained on or cite content originating from adversarial AI Content Farms.
Source: NewsGuard Technologies. Tracking AI-Enabled Misinformation: 3,749 AI Content Farm Sites (and Counting), Plus the Top False Claims Generated by Artificial Intelligence Tools. [online] Last updated 23 June 2026. Available at: https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/ai-tracking-center/ (newsguardtech.com).
Disinformation in 2026 Forum Documents How Influence Operations Scale Through AI Enhancement
A report published by the Center for Foreign Interference Research states that a 25 June 2026 international security forum analysis revealed that the integration of artificial intelligence tools into influence operation architectures is producing a structural shift in how state-sponsored disinformation campaigns are designed and executed, with AI enabling smaller operational teams to produce higher volumes of contextually tailored content targeting multiple geographic markets simultaneously. The forum documentation identifies this as a departure from earlier volume-over-precision models, with AI enhancement allowing operators to embed narratives within organic public debates rather than relying on identifiable high-volume posting patterns that platform moderation tools are calibrated to detect.
A report published by the Center for Foreign Interference Research states that the forum also documented coordinated foreign campaigns deliberately exploiting dormant inter-state conflicts and ethnic tensions across post-Soviet states to sow discord, a tactic that AI enhancement makes more scalable by enabling rapid localisation of destabilising narratives for different linguistic and cultural contexts within the same operational deployment. The forum findings position AI-augmented influence operations as a compounding threat in the run-up to the 2026 U.S. midterm elections and ongoing European electoral cycles, where reduced attribution confidence and increased content volume are simultaneously degrading the effectiveness of platform-level moderation responses.
Source: Foreign Interference Research Center. Disinformation in 2026 Forum Documents How Influence Operations Scale Through AI Enhancement. [online] Published 25 June 2026. Available at: https://www.foreigninterference.org/post/disinformation-in-2026-forum-documents-how-influence-operations-scale-through-ai-enhancement (foreigninterference.org).
Big Brands Fund AI Slop
A report published by NewsGuard's Reality Check states that major brand advertisers including Adobe, Disney, Verizon, and Fox had advertisements running on AI-generated content farm websites publishing fabricated stories about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, sites that produced false claims about FBI breakthroughs, new evidence, and alleged family involvement in the case despite authorities having cleared relatives. The fake articles were engineered to capitalise on public interest in a high-profile missing-person case while generating advertising revenue through programmatic advertising systems that place brand ads on content regardless of veracity.
A report published by NewsGuard's Reality Check states that traffic to the fabricated stories was amplified through a network of apparently connected Facebook pages that post fake breaking-news graphics directing users to AI-generated sites, and that the operation may be operated from Vietnam, though ownership could not be confirmed. NewsGuard identifies the case as illustrating a systemic business model in which AI content farms produce fabricated or misleading stories about high-profile topics to attract clicks and monetise audience attention through advertising, a model that is financially self-sustaining as long as programmatic ad systems route advertising budgets to content based on traffic volume rather than editorial standards.
Source: NewsGuard Reality Check. Big Brands Fund AI Slop. [online] Published 22 June 2026. Available at: https://www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/big-brands-fund-ai-slop (newsguardrealitycheck.com).
Africa Is Not Ready for Malicious AI Swarms on Its Prime News Source
An analysis published by Business Day states that Africa's information environment faces growing risks from AI-enabled disinformation distributed through audio content on radio and encrypted messaging platforms, creating a significant gap in existing defences against emerging threats because global counter-disinformation efforts have largely focused on social media and text-based content while radio remains the primary news source for many Africans, particularly in rural communities, among women, and among people with limited digital access. Synthetic audio can exploit trusted communication channels to spread false narratives, influence elections, and create the illusion of public consensus in environments where voice-cloning technology is increasingly accessible.
A report published by Business Day states that recent elections in Nigeria and Ghana demonstrated how misleading audio content circulates rapidly through WhatsApp and other peer-to-peer networks, bypassing traditional moderation and fact-checking mechanisms, and that investment in audio deepfake detection systems designed for African languages and acoustic environments remains limited, with voice-cloning models trained on limited African-language data harder to detect using standard tools built for English, French, and Mandarin. The analysis identifies the growing accessibility of voice-cloning technology as increasing the risk that political figures, community leaders, and public officials can be impersonated to manipulate public opinion, calling for governments, election bodies, media organisations, and fact-checking groups across Africa to strengthen resilience against audio-based disinformation as a priority.
Source: Business Day. BIG READ | Africa Is Not Ready for ‘Malicious AI Swarms’ on Its Prime News Source. [online] Published 23 June 2026. Available at: https://www.businessday.co.za/lifestyle/2026-06-23-africas-dominant-news-source-is-underprepared-for-ai-disinformation
[General Reports]
Trust in Media 2026
A survey published by YouGov states that trust declined for most of the 48 news outlets measured in its 2026 Trust in Media survey, with only a handful making modest gains within the margin of error. The survey identifies sharply defined partisan divides as the dominant structural feature of American media trust, a pattern that limits the capacity of any single outlet or platform to serve as a shared factual reference point across the electorate, creating conditions that state and non-state disinformation actors systematically exploit to widen existing societal fractures.
A survey published by YouGov states that 70% of respondents expressed concern that deepfakes would be used to spread disinformation, reflecting a broad awareness of synthetic media threats even as institutional mechanisms for labelling or detecting AI-generated content remain underdeveloped. The survey situates declining media trust within a broader pattern of information environment fragmentation in which generational differences in news consumption habits, platform preferences, and source authority create structurally separate information ecosystems, a condition that disinformation research identifies as increasing vulnerability to targeted influence operations by reducing the shared factual baseline needed to evaluate and reject false narratives collectively.
Source: YouGov. Trust in Media 2026: Which News Sources Americans Use and Trust. [online] Published 29 June 2026. Available at: https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/55045-trust-in-media-2026-which-news-sources-americans-use-and-trust (yougov.com).
Longtime Exxon Legacy of Climate Denial and Misinformation
An article published by The Conversation states that former ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, who died on June 9th 2026, at age 87, left a consequential legacy of spreading doubt about climate change despite his own company's internal scientists having produced some of the most accurate early models of human-caused global warming. Over 80% of Exxon's paid editorial-style advertisements during Raymond's tenure specifically promoted uncertainty and doubt about climate science, and Raymond's 1997 address to the World Petroleum Congress explicitly denied that the world was warming, denied the fossil fuel industry's causal role, and challenged the scientific consensus at a critical juncture in international climate policy formation.
An article published by The Conversation states that under Raymond's leadership, Exxon directed millions of dollars to organisations promoting climate denial, establishing a pattern of corporate disinformation that continues to shape public discourse and policy contestation today. The analysis identifies a broad range of persistent narratives used to cast doubt on climate change or its causes, including claims that warming is primarily driven by natural factors, scepticism about links between emissions and extreme weather, and criticism of proposed solutions, and argues that inoculation strategies, critical thinking education, and prebunking are among the most evidence-supported tools for building public resilience to this form of corporate-origin disinformation.
Source: The Conversation. Longtime Exxon CEO Lee Raymond’s Legacy of Climate Denial and Misinformation Lives On – A Psychologist Offers Ways to Counter It. [online] Published 22 June 2026. Available at: https://theconversation.com/longtime-exxon-ceo-lee-raymonds-legacy-of-climate-denial-and-misinformation-lives-on-a-psychologist-offers-ways-to-counter-it-285667
BLF Propaganda Efforts Under Akhtar Nadeem's Leadership
A report published by the Jamestown Foundation profiled Akhtar Nadeem, also known as Gwahram Baloch, a senior figure and spokesperson for the Balochistan Liberation Front, as part of a broader analysis of how educated and middle-class activists have assumed more prominent leadership roles within the Baloch insurgency. Under Akhtar Nadeem's leadership, the organisation has expanded its propaganda efforts through the publications 'Ispar' and 'Sarmachar,' video content, multilingual messaging, and increasingly structured communication strategies addressing ideological themes, organisational developments, and the use of artificial intelligence in combat operations.
A report published by the Jamestown Foundation states that the BLF's expanded media operations reflect a deliberate effort to modernise the organisation's outreach, strengthen its narrative position, and maintain relevance alongside its armed activities, following a strategic communication model in which insurgent groups use professional-grade media production to recruit internationally, shape foreign press coverage, and contest the Pakistani state's information environment. The profiling of Akhtar Nadeem illustrates a pattern identified across multiple insurgent movements in which the combination of educated leadership and sophisticated information operations produces a more durable and harder-to-isolate influence infrastructure than purely tactical communication approaches.
Source: The Jamestown Foundation. Briefs Archive. [online] Available at: https://jamestown.org/briefs/
Disinformation in the Western Balkans
A study published by the British Council states that young people in the Western Balkans often judge the credibility of information based on who shared it, familiarity with the source, and 'official-looking' signals rather than through detailed verification, reflecting a context in which checking information requires significant time and effort, leading many to rely on trusted friends, family members, influencers, or quick credibility cues, especially when confronted with large volumes of content. Researchers observed that sharing content does not always reflect genuine belief, with young people frequently sharing information for humour, social connection, or group belonging even when uncertain of its accuracy.
A study published by the British Council states that information overload is creating confusion, anxiety, and increasing distrust in the Western Balkans information environment, with some participants reporting it has become increasingly difficult to determine what is true, and that the growing presence of AI-generated and manipulated content is further weakening traditional authenticity signals and increasing reliance on source identity and reputation. The research recommends improving media and information literacy, helping users recognise common credibility cues, supporting trustworthy journalism and fact-checking initiatives, and increasing platform transparency and accountability, framing youth information resilience as a structural requirement for democratic health in a region with significant vulnerability to both domestic and externally driven disinformation.
Source: British Council. Next Generation What We Know: Mis/disinformation in the Western Balkans. [online] Published June 2026. Available at: https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/next-generation-wwk-rfp-western-balkans
Disinformation Elicits Learning Biases
A study published by eLife states that an assessment of how people learn and update their beliefs when exposed to potentially false information found that while individuals generally learned more from credible sources, consistent with rational decision-making principles, they also showed important biases when confronted with unreliable information, including continuing to learn from sources known to be unreliable rather than ignoring them entirely. The study also found that exposure to misleading information increased reliance on trusted sources, leading participants to place greater weight on credible feedback than they otherwise would.
A study published by eLife states that the presence of unreliable information strengthened a positivity bias, making people more likely to accept positive feedback while discounting negative feedback, and that this pattern suggests disinformation affects not only what people believe but also how they process and learn from subsequent information. By exploiting existing cognitive biases, including cognitive load effects from the effort of filtering non-credible sources, positivity bias, and motivated cognition, misleading information can alter decision-making processes even when people are consciously aware that some sources are untrustworthy, with significant implications for the design of counter-disinformation interventions that must address not just belief content but underlying learning mechanisms.
Source: eLife. [Article 106073]. [online] Published 2026. Available at: https://elifesciences.org/articles/106073 (elifesciences.org).
[Appendix - Frameworks to Counter Disinformation]
NewsGuard Launches First AI Chatbot Built to Deliver Trusted Journalism
An announcement published by NewsGuard states that the company launched 'NewsGuard AI' on June 25th, 2026, the first AI chatbot sourcing responses exclusively from 12,000 news and information websites whose editorial processes have been evaluated against nine apolitical journalistic standards. The system incorporates a guardrail trained on 64,000 documented false claims to suppress misinformation and is built on a revenue-sharing model in which publishers receive 50% of subscription fees generated from use of their content, positioning the platform as both a quality information tool and a mechanism to fund journalism from trusted sources.
An announcement published by NewsGuard states that the chatbot is designed as a direct architectural response to the AI Content Farm ecosystem the company has simultaneously been cataloguing, in which 3,749 AI-generated content farms pollute the training data and citation pools that standard AI tools draw from. By restricting sourcing to verified publishers and explicitly excluding unreliable AI-generated content, NewsGuard AI represents a structural counter-model to the compounding feedback loop between adversarial content farms and AI hallucination that standard retrieval-augmented generation systems are currently unable to break.
Source: NewsGuard Technologies. NewsGuard Launches First AI Chatbot Built to Deliver Trusted Journalism Only from Reliable News Websites. [online] Published 24 June 2026. Available at: https://www.newsguardtech.com/press/newsguard-launches-first-ai-chatbot-built-to-deliver-trusted-journalism-only-from-reliable-news-websites/ (newsguardtech.com).
An Intelligence-Led Mission Approach for Australia-Japan Cooperation
A report published by ASPI states that a new report for the Australia-Japan security relationship proposes that counter-disinformation be elevated into a standing intelligence mission co-led by Australia's Office of National Intelligence and Japan's newly established National Intelligence Agency, moving beyond ad hoc responses to individual influence operations toward a structural bilateral framework for countering Chinese and Russian state-linked disinformation targeting both countries and their shared strategic interests. The report identifies both Australia and Japan as sustained targets of state-linked information operations designed to exploit historical grievances, domestic political divisions, and alliance anxieties.
A report published by ASPI states that the proposed Australia-Japan counter-disinformation framework would include an annual bilateral narrative-risk assessment identifying the most significant information operations threatening alliance cohesion, as well as crisis simulation exercises testing institutional responses to coordinated disinformation events, providing shared operational preparedness infrastructure that neither country currently has in place for the information domain. The report situates the recommendation within a documented escalation of Chinese disinformation operations against Japan since Prime Minister Takaichi's election in October 2025, with Beijing deploying overt state media channels, influencer networks, and inauthentic accounts in a campaign ASPI assesses as part of a broader Chinese strategy to contest Japan's role as a U.S. defence and security partner in the Indo-Pacific.
Source: Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). From Common Threats to Narrative Defence. [online] Published June 2026. Available at: https://www.aspi.org.au/report/from-common-threats-to-narrative-defence
Evaluating Mexico's New Cybersecurity Plan
An analysis published by Recorded Future states that Mexico has unveiled a National Cybersecurity Plan to strengthen the country's cyber resilience and address threats including ransomware, disinformation, hacktivism, and state-sponsored cyber activity, following a series of cyber incidents affecting government institutions and critical sectors. Ransomware is identified as one of the most significant threats facing Mexican organisations, particularly in the government, healthcare, and financial sectors, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Mexico is expected to increase cyber risks by creating a target-rich environment for ransomware groups, hacktivists, fraud actors, and disinformation networks.
A report published by Recorded Future states that disinformation networks represent a specific risk category in Mexico's cybersecurity landscape, with foreign and domestic actors potentially exploiting major events to spread fabricated narratives that can undermine institutional trust and complicate emergency response. The analysis recommends adopting international cybersecurity standards, improving threat intelligence capabilities, conducting cyber incident exercises, strengthening public awareness and cyber hygiene, and deepening cooperation with international partners, particularly the United States, as Mexico implements new legislation and regulatory frameworks in advance of the FIFA World Cup and the October 2026 electoral period.
Source: Recorded Future Insikt Group. Evaluating Mexico's New Cybersecurity Plan. [online] Published 25 June 2026. Available at: https://www.recordedfuture.com/research/mexico-new-cybersecurity-plan-evaluation
The Opposite of America's AI Problem Is Happening in Brazil
An article published by Anchor Change states that Brazil is entering its October 2026 elections with one of the world's most detailed regulatory frameworks for AI and online political content, including a ban on deepfakes in campaign materials, mandatory labelling of AI-generated content, restrictions on AI systems recommending or ranking candidates, and a blackout period for AI-altered content before voting. Brazil's electoral court has also created a permanent commission on AI in elections and established a 90-day deadline to build a national catalogue of enforcement tools, with a recent study identifying 18 AI-generated political profiles active in Brazil between January 2025 and April 2026, most of which did not disclose their AI nature.
An article published by Anchor Change states that uncertainty around how some rules should be interpreted, particularly restrictions on ranking political candidates, has created challenges for AI companies, with some platforms potentially choosing to limit or suspend political AI features rather than risk penalties, raising concerns about reduced access to information during the election period. The analysis situates Brazil's approach within more than a decade of efforts to address online harms, election integrity, and platform accountability, identifying a growing tension between efforts to limit misleading or manipulated content and concerns that overly restrictive or unclear rules could discourage platforms from providing political information altogether, a tension likely to become a reference point for other democracies developing AI election governance frameworks.
Source: Anchor Change. The Opposite of America’s AI Problem. [online] Published 25 June 2026. Available at: https://anchorchange.substack.com/p/the-opposite-of-americas-ai-problem (anchorchange.substack.com).
Cate Blanchett's Free Tool Helps Protect Identity from Being Deepfaked
An article published by CyberNews states that Australian actress Cate Blanchett introduced the Human Consent Registry at the European Parliament on June 24th 2026, a free tool that allows individuals to record whether AI systems may use their name, image, voice, and other personal attributes, or to define consent terms for specific uses, providing a practical mechanism for the growing demand for individual control over AI-generated representations in an environment where unauthorised deepfakes and synthetic likenesses have become pervasive. The platform is designed to be accessible to both individuals and third parties such as agents and managers, and is expected to expand to enable protection of artworks, characters, and brands.
A report published by CyberNews states that the Human Consent Registry reflects the convergence of celebrity advocacy, legislative momentum, and public demand for AI identity protections, with governments and regulators in the European Union, Australia, Japan, and the United States increasingly responding to the harm associated with nonconsensual AI-generated content. The initiative addresses the intersection between individual consent rights and information integrity, while the registry's primary function is identity protection rather than disinformation countermeasures; the broader ecosystem of nonconsensual AI-generated representations creates risks for democratic discourse when synthetic media depicting real individuals is used to fabricate statements, manipulate public opinion, or undermine institutional trust.
Source: Cybernews. Cate Blanchett Joins the Fight Against Deepfakes. [online] Published 25 June 2026. Available at: https://cybernews.com/ai-news/cate-blanchett-ai/ (cybernews.com).
Youth Facing Disinformation
An announcement published by the Council of Europe states that Monaco has launched the 'Youth Facing Disinformation: Why Journalists Matter' initiative as part of its 2026 Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, under the broader 'Journalists Matter' campaign for the safety and role of journalists in democratic societies. The programme aims to strengthen media and information literacy among young Europeans navigating an information environment where social media and AI tools blur the distinction between reliable information and misleading content, including through conferences, workshops, debates, and an audiovisual awareness campaign designed to engage young audiences on information overload, conspiracy theories, and disinformation.
An announcement published by the Council of Europe states that a major conference in Strasbourg in November 2026 will bring together youth participants, journalists, experts, media organisations, and social media stakeholders to discuss challenges related to reliable information, and will launch year-long youth-led working groups focused on practical projects supporting quality journalism and strengthening resilience against disinformation. The programme includes a grants programme awarding up to four projects of EUR 5,000 each for youth-led initiatives addressing disinformation, media literacy, journalists' safety, and freedom of expression, positioning youth participation not merely as a communications target but as an active structural contributor to the development of information integrity solutions.
Source: Council of Europe. Youth Facing Disinformation – Why Journalists Matter. [online] Published June 2026. Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/freedom-expression/youth-facing-disinformation-why-journalists-matter
[CRC Glossary]
The nature and sophistication of the modern Information Environment is projected to continue to escalate in complexity. However, across academic publications, legal frameworks, policy debates, and public communications, the same concepts are often described in different ways, making collaboration, cooperation, and effective action more difficult.
To ensure clarity and establish a consistent frame of reference, the CRC is maintaining a standard glossary to reduce ambiguity and promote terminological interoperability. Its scope encompasses foundational concepts, as well as emerging terms relating to Hostile Influence and Cyfluence.
As a collaborative project maintained with input from the community of experts, the CRC Glossary is intended to reflect professional consensus. We encourage you to engage with this initiative and welcome contributions via the CRC website.