Disinformation exports: How foreign anti-vaccine narratives reached West African communities online

First Draft's latest research takes a look at how North American conspiracy theories and pro-Russian vaccine disinformation reached West African communities on social media

Anatomy of an Anti-Muslim Influence Operation

Inside the spread of an Islamophobic influence operation targeting Muslims in India.

How an anti-Muslim influence operation spread on Indian social media

An anti-Muslim influence network in India hijacked recent conversations around Israel and Palestine.

How 4chan and 8kun users rely on YouTube videos to spread climate change denialism

As journalists and researchers have focused on addressing Covid-19 falsehoods over the past year, conspiracy theories and misinformation linked to an altogether different global crisis — climate change — continued to spread online.

Vaccine infertility claims on YouTube sweep across fringe platforms

False claims on YouTube asserting vaccines are abortion drugs and cause infertility are being used as evidence to support conspiracy theories on fringe platforms.

How we investigated the spread of Covid-19 vaccine misinformation on Facebook

The platform recently announced a ban on false Covid-19 and vaccine claims, so we used technical methods to see whether it’s working.

Closed Groups, Messaging Apps and Online Ads

Newsgathering and Monitoring on the Social Web

Coronavirus: How pro-mask posts boost the anti-mask movement

Despite the trending hashtags and media coverage, research shows anti-maskers are often amplified by algorithms, Twitter and the people who mock them.

How to use network analysis to explore social media and disinformation

Network visualizations look impressive but first and foremost they are great tools for exploration. Here's a basic introduction on how to use to get started.

How to analyze Facebook data for misinformation trends and narratives

Learn some basic data journalism techniques for researching health misinformation on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit using the platform CrowdTangle.

From coronavirus to bushfires, misleading maps are distorting reality

Some of the big stories in early 2020 have thrown up a scattering of viral visualisations which are far from accurate and have real-world impact.

Vaccine case study: Understanding the impact of polio vaccine disinformation in Pakistan

How false rumors and disinformation about the polio vaccine spread on Pakistani social media, heavily impacting polio eradication efforts on the ground.

Thousands of misleading Conservative ads side-step scrutiny thanks to Facebook policy

Online ads have become a central theme of the election, where parties can reach voters with micro-targeted messages.

The not-so-simple science of social media 'bots'

'Bots' appear in news stories with alarming regularity. But are we using the term correctly? First Draft investigates the difficulty with understanding online automation.

How to spot a bot (or not): The main indicators of online automation, co-ordination and inauthentic activity

First Draft has put together a number of indicators that might suggest — but not prove — automated activity online.

UK Election: The main parties embrace a local digital strategy to win over voters

From local hospitals to a wind farm and schools, some parties are tackling regional issues head on, while others send the same message to targeted seats.

UK Election: How political parties are targeting voters on Facebook, Google and Snapchat ads

From soft colour palettes to macho slogans, First Draft research has uncovered a range of strategies being used by political parties to target voters via Facebook, Google and Snapchat ads.

Sources and keywords: The fundamentals of online newsgathering

The fourth book in First Draft's series of Essential Guides looks at the tools and techniques for finding newsworthy material online.

Pro-Trump Twitter accounts boost Boris Johnson Brexit message

Hundreds of users bearing US hashtags or created since June helped promote the British Prime Minister in activity experts called 'suspicious'.

Lessons from the Czech Republic for reporting on disinformation

A conversation with Jiří Burýšek, the editor of the Czech online news site Seznam Zprávy, on the state of disinformation in his country.

Fact checkers in Finland investigate structure of disinformation

A conversation with Petra Piitulainen-Ramsay, editor of the Finnish fact-checking service Faktabaari.

How we set up a multilingual, cross-border monitoring team during the European elections

The five main steps taken by First Draft and a team of student researchers to monitor information online as 28 countries voted for the EU parliament.