A program of the Cyber Policy Center, a joint initiative of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Law School.
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in·ter·net ob·serv·a·to·ry
[ˈin(t)ərˌnet əbˈzərvəˌtôrē] n. a lab housing infrastructure and human expertise for the study of the internet
Takedown: Unheard Voice
Stanford Internet Observatory collaborated with Graphika to analyze a large network of accounts removed from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in our latest report.
Featured News and Publications
My Heart Belongs to Kashmir
An Analysis of a Pro-Indian Army Covert Influence Operation on Twitter
Trust & Safety Research Conference Livestream
The conference will be held at Stanford University September 29-30, 2022.
Pro-Kremlin Twitter Network Takes Aim at Ukraine and COVID-19
Twitter suspended a network of accounts that coordinated to promote narratives around the coronavirus pandemic, and to amplify a pro-Russian news site ahead of the invasion of Ukraine.
Journal of Online Trust and Safety
The Journal of Online Trust and Safety is a no fee, fast peer review, and open access journal. Authors may submit letters of inquiry to assess whether their manuscript is a good fit. The Journal of Online Trust and Safety is now accepting letters of inquiry for its third issue and special issues.
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Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC
News / November 17, 2022
Moderated Content host Evelyn Douek discusses Twitter’s data security problems and what this says about privacy regulation more generally with Whitney Merrill, the Data Protection Officer and Privacy Counsel at Asana and long-time privacy lawyer including as an attorney at the FTC, and Riana Pfefferkorn, a Research Scholar at the Stanford Internet Observatory.
How Online Mobs Act Like Flocks Of Birds
Commentary / November 3, 2022
Renee DiResta of the Stanford Internet Observatory writes about the growing body of research suggesting human behavior on social media is strikingly similar to collective behavior in nature. Published in Noema Magazine.
My Heart Belongs to Kashmir
Blogs / September 21, 2022
An Analysis of a Pro-Indian Army Covert Influence Operation on Twitter
This salesperson does not exist: How tactics from political influence operations on social media are deployed for commercial lead generation
News / September 19, 2022
Published in Harvard Kennedy School's Misinformation Review
Pro-Kremlin Twitter Network Takes Aim at Ukraine and COVID-19
Blogs / August 24, 2022
Twitter suspended a network of accounts that coordinated to promote narratives around the coronavirus pandemic, and to amplify a pro-Russian news site ahead of the invasion of Ukraine.
Unheard Voice
Blogs / August 24, 2022
Stanford Internet Observatory collaborated with Graphika to analyze a large network of accounts removed from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in our latest report. This information operation likely originated in the United States and targeted a range of countries in the Middle East and Central Asia.
How Unmoderated Platforms Became the Frontline for Russian Propaganda
News / August 17, 2022
In an essay for Lawfare Blog, Samantha Bradshaw, Renee DiResta and Christopher Giles look at how state war propaganda in Russia is increasingly prevalent on platforms that offer minimal-moderation virality as their value proposition.
Meta Just Happens to Expand Messenger’s End-to-End Encryption
News / August 11, 2022
Riana Pfefferkorn of SIO spoke with Wired on Meta's expansion of end-to-end encryption in Messenger.
Were Facebook and Twitter Consistent in Labeling Misleading Posts During the 2020 Election?
News / August 7, 2022
In an essay for Lawfare Blog, Samantha Bradshaw of American University and Shelby Grossman of the Stanford Internet Observatory explore whether two key platforms, Facebook and Twitter, were internally consistent in how they applied their labels during the 2020 presidential election.
Mind Farce
Blogs / August 4, 2022
An Investigation into an Inauthentic Facebook and Instagram Network Linked to an Israeli Public Relations Firm
Renée DiResta of SIO testifies before the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Elections
News / July 28, 2022
During a hearing titled “A Growing Threat: Foreign And Domestic Sources Of Disinformation," DiResta offered expert testimony on influence operations and the spread of narratives across social and media networks.
Using ‘safety by design’ to address online harms
Blogs / July 26, 2022
A look at how user choice and transparency provide new ways of addressing content moderation and online safety policy.
New report analyzes dynamics on alt-platform Gab
Blogs / June 1, 2022
Gab was founded in 2016 as an uncensored alternative to mainstream social media platforms. Stanford Internet Observatory’s latest report looks at behaviors and dynamics across the platform.
Announcing the First Annual Trust and Safety Research Conference, September 29-30, 2022
News / March 28, 2022
The Stanford Internet Observatory and the Trust and Safety Foundation will host a two-day conference focusing on cutting-edge research in trust and safety for those in academia, industry, civil society, and government.
Seven tips for spotting disinformation related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict
News / March 3, 2022
Shelby Grossman shares what she and her team watch for when analyzing social media posts and other online reports related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Appeared first in Stanford News)
The Second Issue of the Journal of Online Trust and Safety
Blogs / March 1, 2022
The Journal of Online Trust and Safety published its second issue on Tuesday, March 1.
New Report Provides Inside Look and Lessons from Monitoring COVID-19 Anti-Vaccine Narratives
News / February 24, 2022
The Virality Project final report finds recycled anti-vaccine narratives and viral content driven by recurring actors.
Full-Spectrum Pro-Kremlin Online Propaganda about Ukraine
Blogs / February 22, 2022
Narratives from overt propaganda, unattributed Telegram channels, and inauthentic social media accounts
Final Projects from the Stanford Internet Observatory's Online Open Source Investigation Course
Blogs / February 8, 2022
Research on inauthentic behavior on TikTok, misinformation on Stanford's campus, Telegram activity in Belarus, health insurance scams that run advertisements on Google, and QAnon content on Tumblr.
Accessibility for Trust and Safety Flows
Blogs / January 20, 2022
How well do platform reporting flows and context labels work with screen readers for the visually impaired?
In Bed with Embeds: How a Network Tied to IRA Operations Created Fake “Man on the Street” Content Embedded in News Articles
Blogs / December 2, 2021
In this post and in the attached report, we investigate IRA operations
Analysis of Twitter Takedowns Linked to Venezuela, Mexico, Tanzania, and China
Blogs / December 2, 2021
In this post and in the attached reports, we investigate four newly suspended Twitter operations.
Aspen Digital's Commission on Information Disorder Releases Their Final Report
News / November 17, 2021
The report is the culmination of work by Aspen Digita's Commission on Information Disorder, with guidance from Stanford Cyber's Renee DiResta, Alex Stamos, Daphne Keller, Nate Persily and Herb Lin, and provides a framework for action with 15 recommendations to build trust & reduce harm.
Brazil Election Scene Setter
Blogs / November 11, 2021
This is the fourth of a series of pieces we have published on societies and elections at risk from online disinformation. The politically-fueled disinformation engine in Brazil puts the country in the midst of an information crisis leading up to its 2022 presidential election.
The first issue of the Journal of Online Trust and Safety
News / October 28, 2021
The journal of Online Trust and Safety published its inaugural issue on Thursday, October 28.