Related papers: Partial Mobilization: Tracking Multilingual Inform…
This paper presents a few observations about pro-Kremlin propaganda between 2015 and early 2021 with a dataset from the East Stratcom Task Force (ESTF), which is affiliated with the European Union (EU) but working independently from it.…
State-sponsored organizations are increasingly linked to efforts aimed to exploit social media for information warfare and manipulating public opinion. Typically, their activities rely on a number of social network accounts they control,…
We analyze Iran-related discourse across two structurally different platforms: Telegram (7,567 messages from international news channels) and Reddit (23,909 posts and comments from Iran-focused and global communities). Using a single…
This paper proposes a novel lexicon-based unsupervised sentimental analysis method to measure the $``\textit{hope}"$ and $``\textit{fear}"$ for the 2022 Ukrainian-Russian Conflict. $\textit{Reddit.com}$ is utilised as the main source of…
Telegram has emerged as a major platform for large-scale video piracy, where copyrighted content is rapidly distributed among users. Despite its prominence, the structural and operational dynamics of this ecosystem remain insufficiently…
Any report frames issues to favor a particular interpretation by highlighting or excluding certain aspects of a story. Despite the widespread use of framing in disinformation, framing properties and detection methods remain underexplored…
A defining characteristic of conspiracy texts is that they negotiate power and identity by recontextualizing prior knowledge. This dynamic has been shown to intensify on social media, where knowledge sources can readily be integrated into…
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 dramatically reshaped the European security landscape. In Finland, public opinion on NATO had long been polarized along the left-right partisan axis, but the invasion led to a rapid convergence of the…
Misinformation, propaganda, and outright lies proliferate on the web, with some narratives having dangerous real-world consequences on public health, elections, and individual safety. However, despite the impact of misinformation, the…
With Twitter's growth and popularity, a huge number of views are shared by users on various topics, making this platform a valuable information source on various political, social, and economic issues. This paper investigates English tweets…
To address the increasing prevalence of (audio-)visual data on social media, and to capture the evolving and dynamic nature of this communication, researchers have begun to explore the potential of unsupervised approaches for analyzing…
Cyberattacks pose a serious threat to modern sociotechnical systems, often resulting in severe technical and societal consequences. Attackers commonly target systems and infrastructure through methods such as malware, ransomware, or other…
Since traditional social media platforms continue to ban actors spreading hate speech or other forms of abusive languages (a process known as deplatforming), these actors migrate to alternative platforms that do not moderate users content.…
State-sponsored information operations (IOs) increasingly influence global discourse on social media platforms, yet their emotional and rhetorical strategies remain inadequately characterized in scientific literature. This study presents…
The war in Ukraine seems to have positively changed the attitude toward the critical societal topic of migration in Europe -- at least towards refugees from Ukraine. We investigate whether this impression is substantiated by how the topic…
Although Telegram is currently one of the most popular instant messaging apps in the world, previous studies have mainly focused on analysing discussions on specific angles and topics. In this paper, we present a broad analysis of publicly…
With the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown, social media became a vital communication tool. The sudden outburst of online activity influenced information spread and consumption patterns. It increases the relevance of studying…
We propose a novel framework for predicting the factuality of reporting of news media outlets by studying the user attention cycles in their YouTube channels. In particular, we design a rich set of features derived from the temporal…
Unraveling the role of opinion leaders in the digital realm, this study investigates the influence of key actors on Telegram, a hybrid platform that combines messaging app features with social network dynamics, where channel administrators…
Recent evidence has emerged linking coordinated campaigns by state-sponsored actors to manipulate public opinion on the Web. Campaigns revolving around major political events are enacted via mission-focused "trolls." While trolls are…