Alberto Fittarelli
@fittarelli.com
Sr. Researcher @citizenlab.ca, Disinformation & Harassment. Fmr. Meta. Trainer: find & expose covert influence. I like doers.
Pinned
Alberto Fittarelli
@fittarelli.com
· Oct 3
We Say You Want a Revolution: PRISONBREAK - An AI-Enabled Influence Operation Aimed at Overthrowing the Iranian Regime - The Citizen Lab
We investigate a coordinated network of inauthentic X accounts that is spreading AI-generated content to induce revolt in Iran. The network has been active since 2023, but increased activity during th...
https://citizenlab.ca/2025/10/ai-enabled-io-aimed-at-overthrowing-iranian-regime]
1/ NEW REPORT: “We Say You Want a Revolution” - An AI-Enabled Influence Operation Aimed at Overthrowing the Iranian Regime. We call it PRISONBREAK. Keep reading to find out why.
THREAD 🧵
THREAD 🧵
Nazis don’t know decency.
I would hope that whatever your view of the policy or legal question of immigration, if you’re a halfway decent (or at least emotionally stable) person you recognize this as an absolutely horrific and un-American thing to post.
December 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Nazis don’t know decency.
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
Two stories side by side in WashPost
December 26, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Two stories side by side in WashPost
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
MIT Technology Review profiles @rondeibert.bsky.social, who understood that civil society needed digital defense long before just about anyone else and has been doing it ever since.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/24/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/24/1...
Meet the man hunting the spies in your smartphone
Ronald Deibert and his research group, the Citizen Lab, have rigorously worked to unveil alarming digital threats for the past two decades. Now, he warns, this kind of work is under threat.
www.technologyreview.com
December 24, 2025 at 9:44 PM
MIT Technology Review profiles @rondeibert.bsky.social, who understood that civil society needed digital defense long before just about anyone else and has been doing it ever since.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/24/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/24/1...
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
I’ll just note that the US didn’t do this to China, which outright bans US social media websites
US bars former EU commissioner Breton and others over tech rules ft.trib.al/TgoG45B
US bars former EU commissioner Breton and others over tech rules
France hits out at visa sanctions as Washington targets what it calls the ‘global censorship-industrial complex’
ft.trib.al
December 24, 2025 at 11:12 AM
I’ll just note that the US didn’t do this to China, which outright bans US social media websites
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
"There's basically an economy around disinformation now"
Maybe now could be the right time to start asking politicians and your organisation's social teams why they're actively assisting monetised disinformation schemes by retaining their accounts at X and doing free volunteer work by posting there
Maybe now could be the right time to start asking politicians and your organisation's social teams why they're actively assisting monetised disinformation schemes by retaining their accounts at X and doing free volunteer work by posting there
Latest commentary from me about how the design of social media platforms incentivise and fail to moderate the spread of false and misleading information about the #Bondi massacre. As usual, X is the ringleader.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...
X payments incentivised misinformation in wake of Bondi shooting, expert says
US social media platform X incentivised the spread of inflammatory misinformation in the wake of the Bondi Beach shootings, a digital media expert has said.
www.abc.net.au
December 18, 2025 at 10:24 AM
"There's basically an economy around disinformation now"
Maybe now could be the right time to start asking politicians and your organisation's social teams why they're actively assisting monetised disinformation schemes by retaining their accounts at X and doing free volunteer work by posting there
Maybe now could be the right time to start asking politicians and your organisation's social teams why they're actively assisting monetised disinformation schemes by retaining their accounts at X and doing free volunteer work by posting there
“Report on that fact”. That’s all that needs to be said.
"I think it’s really important that Wikipedia remain neutral and that we refrain from saying things that are controversial in wiki voice."
Read our full interview with Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales: www.theverge.com/tech/846184/...
Read our full interview with Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales: www.theverge.com/tech/846184/...
![Quote: "I think we have to always dig deep and examine it, and I think it’s absolutely fine to say, “The consensus of academic genocide researchers is that this was genocide.” [...] That doesn’t mean that Wikipedia should say it in our own voice.
- Jimmy Wales, cofounder of Wikipedia](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7exlcsle4mjfhu3wnhcgizz6/bafkreigkmqoaqzh6wocdgg3tdyahkpc3vwavwoz73by4bl4vlixwns4f4u@jpeg)
December 17, 2025 at 9:22 PM
“Report on that fact”. That’s all that needs to be said.
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
Just to be clear: if 'no one was ready' a lot of people fucked up, bc those of us who work on this laid out what was going to happen 8yrs ago.
The twofold issue that 1)it's not just a tech problem, and 2) Big Tech allowed itself to be ref-worked into spinelessness.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...
The twofold issue that 1)it's not just a tech problem, and 2) Big Tech allowed itself to be ref-worked into spinelessness.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...
A.I. Videos Have Flooded Social Media. No One Was Ready.
www.nytimes.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Just to be clear: if 'no one was ready' a lot of people fucked up, bc those of us who work on this laid out what was going to happen 8yrs ago.
The twofold issue that 1)it's not just a tech problem, and 2) Big Tech allowed itself to be ref-worked into spinelessness.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...
The twofold issue that 1)it's not just a tech problem, and 2) Big Tech allowed itself to be ref-worked into spinelessness.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
OpenAI's Sora 2 ultrarealistic (but fake) AI videos used by Russian disinformation operations, who could have predicted it?!?
www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-...
www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-...
As war with Russia drags on, ultrarealistic AI videos attempt to portray Ukrainian soldiers in peril
A series of AI-generated deepfakes and videos, many made with OpenAI's Sora, appears to show Ukrainian soldiers apologizing to the Russian people and blaming their government for the war.
www.nbcnews.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:56 AM
OpenAI's Sora 2 ultrarealistic (but fake) AI videos used by Russian disinformation operations, who could have predicted it?!?
www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-...
www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-...
Get off X. If you’re there for the audience, you’re just damaging your own optics.
Incredible, not in a good way, how many academics, journalists, and policy folks continue to actively attend the Nazi Bar on a daily basis.
The richest man on the planet has a pinned tweet that's just straight up white nationalism. I can't say I miss Twitter!
December 14, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Get off X. If you’re there for the audience, you’re just damaging your own optics.
1/ Yesterday’s Q2-Q3 Adversarial Threat Report by Meta was interesting in many ways. For us @citizenlab.ca, it was a blast from the past.
For the first time, Meta’s investigators attributed what in 2019 we had named Endless Mayfly - a relentless, sophisticated influence op targeting Iran’s enemies.
For the first time, Meta’s investigators attributed what in 2019 we had named Endless Mayfly - a relentless, sophisticated influence op targeting Iran’s enemies.
Burned After Reading: Endless Mayfly’s Ephemeral Disinformation Campaign - The Citizen Lab
Using Endless Mayfly as an illustration, this highlights the challenges of investigating & addressing disinformation from research & policy perspectives.
citizenlab.ca
December 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
1/ Yesterday’s Q2-Q3 Adversarial Threat Report by Meta was interesting in many ways. For us @citizenlab.ca, it was a blast from the past.
For the first time, Meta’s investigators attributed what in 2019 we had named Endless Mayfly - a relentless, sophisticated influence op targeting Iran’s enemies.
For the first time, Meta’s investigators attributed what in 2019 we had named Endless Mayfly - a relentless, sophisticated influence op targeting Iran’s enemies.
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
In 2019, we @citizenlab.ca published an investigation into a disinfo / influence operation we called "Endless Mayfly", and which we attributed at the time to an "Iran-aligned entity"
citizenlab.ca/2019/05/burn...
Now, Meta's latest adversarial threat report showing we were spot on 👇
citizenlab.ca/2019/05/burn...
Now, Meta's latest adversarial threat report showing we were spot on 👇
December 11, 2025 at 10:38 PM
In 2019, we @citizenlab.ca published an investigation into a disinfo / influence operation we called "Endless Mayfly", and which we attributed at the time to an "Iran-aligned entity"
citizenlab.ca/2019/05/burn...
Now, Meta's latest adversarial threat report showing we were spot on 👇
citizenlab.ca/2019/05/burn...
Now, Meta's latest adversarial threat report showing we were spot on 👇
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
We condemn the ongoing targeting of exiled #HongKong activist #CarmenLau, who has faced persistent transnational repression since fleeing her home four years ago. Most recently, her neighbours were sent fake, sexually explicit images of her: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Exiled Hong Kong activist target of harassment campaign
The campaign saw letters containing fake images of Carmen Lau sent to her neighbours.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 10:37 AM
We condemn the ongoing targeting of exiled #HongKong activist #CarmenLau, who has faced persistent transnational repression since fleeing her home four years ago. Most recently, her neighbours were sent fake, sexually explicit images of her: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Textbook transnational repression targeting @carmenlau.bsky.social and once again, belittling *women* who bravely stand up to autocracy.
Sexually explicit letters about exiled Hong Kong activists sent to UK and Australian addresses
Exclusive: Letters with deepfake images of Carmen Lau in UK and targeting of Ted Hui in Australia part of growing harassment
www.theguardian.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Textbook transnational repression targeting @carmenlau.bsky.social and once again, belittling *women* who bravely stand up to autocracy.
Can disinformation become sabotage?
Yes. I posted about the Syrian Electronic Army yesterday: remember when they crashed the Dow Jones with a single tweet in 2013?
Disrupting financial markets and rail infrastructure doesn’t differ in principle. Unrestrained AI use makes it only much easier now.
Yes. I posted about the Syrian Electronic Army yesterday: remember when they crashed the Dow Jones with a single tweet in 2013?
Disrupting financial markets and rail infrastructure doesn’t differ in principle. Unrestrained AI use makes it only much easier now.
Trains cancelled over fake bridge collapse image
Rail services were cancelled after a 'hoax' picture of a damaged bridge appeared on social media
www.bbc.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Can disinformation become sabotage?
Yes. I posted about the Syrian Electronic Army yesterday: remember when they crashed the Dow Jones with a single tweet in 2013?
Disrupting financial markets and rail infrastructure doesn’t differ in principle. Unrestrained AI use makes it only much easier now.
Yes. I posted about the Syrian Electronic Army yesterday: remember when they crashed the Dow Jones with a single tweet in 2013?
Disrupting financial markets and rail infrastructure doesn’t differ in principle. Unrestrained AI use makes it only much easier now.
There goes “Th3 Pr0”, lead in one of the earliest online influence ops to catch the attention of the “West”.
“Ahmad Al Agha, one of the purported leaders of the hacker group, Syrian Electronic Army, appeared in federal court last month after being pursued by the law enforcement for eleven years.”
“Ahmad Al Agha, one of the purported leaders of the hacker group, Syrian Electronic Army, appeared in federal court last month after being pursued by the law enforcement for eleven years.”
The Rabbit Hole: FBI’s Most Wanted Faces Charges in Virginia
Ahmad Al Agha, one of the purported leaders of the hacker group, Syrian Electronic Army, appeared in federal court last month after being pursued by the law enforcement for eleven years.
www.courtwatch.news
December 8, 2025 at 9:46 AM
There goes “Th3 Pr0”, lead in one of the earliest online influence ops to catch the attention of the “West”.
“Ahmad Al Agha, one of the purported leaders of the hacker group, Syrian Electronic Army, appeared in federal court last month after being pursued by the law enforcement for eleven years.”
“Ahmad Al Agha, one of the purported leaders of the hacker group, Syrian Electronic Army, appeared in federal court last month after being pursued by the law enforcement for eleven years.”
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
It is good to see enforcement of the EU Digital Services Act against X. We need more principled democratic governance of tech platforms, and penalties for non-compliance 1)
Elon Musk’s X Hit With $140 Million Fine in Europe www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/t...
Elon Musk’s X Hit With $140 Million Fine in Europe www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/t...
Elon Musk’s X Hit With $140 Million Fine in Europe
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:24 PM
It is good to see enforcement of the EU Digital Services Act against X. We need more principled democratic governance of tech platforms, and penalties for non-compliance 1)
Elon Musk’s X Hit With $140 Million Fine in Europe www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/t...
Elon Musk’s X Hit With $140 Million Fine in Europe www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/t...
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
While "peace" negotiations continue, remember that Russia could simply stop the war at any time.
December 2, 2025 at 2:04 PM
While "peace" negotiations continue, remember that Russia could simply stop the war at any time.
Press friends, please. Whenever you see a new report on [hundreds of] false news websites run by [foe], before typing that headline, ask: what’s their impact?
I.e.: did they fail at attracting anyone like #PAPERWALL, for example? Make it clear.
Their first goal may be to be amplified by *you*.
I.e.: did they fail at attracting anyone like #PAPERWALL, for example? Make it clear.
Their first goal may be to be amplified by *you*.
December 1, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Press friends, please. Whenever you see a new report on [hundreds of] false news websites run by [foe], before typing that headline, ask: what’s their impact?
I.e.: did they fail at attracting anyone like #PAPERWALL, for example? Make it clear.
Their first goal may be to be amplified by *you*.
I.e.: did they fail at attracting anyone like #PAPERWALL, for example? Make it clear.
Their first goal may be to be amplified by *you*.
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
#TaiPo fire: Took 4 days to arrive here:
Man arrested for sedition. HKFP understands is the student who made "4 demands" of the authorities: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/30/h...
Beijing warns "anti-China disrupted" they'll face the "full force" of the security law: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/29/b...
Man arrested for sedition. HKFP understands is the student who made "4 demands" of the authorities: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/30/h...
Beijing warns "anti-China disrupted" they'll face the "full force" of the security law: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/29/b...
November 29, 2025 at 11:09 PM
#TaiPo fire: Took 4 days to arrive here:
Man arrested for sedition. HKFP understands is the student who made "4 demands" of the authorities: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/30/h...
Beijing warns "anti-China disrupted" they'll face the "full force" of the security law: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/29/b...
Man arrested for sedition. HKFP understands is the student who made "4 demands" of the authorities: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/30/h...
Beijing warns "anti-China disrupted" they'll face the "full force" of the security law: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/29/b...
“DARVO (an acronym for "Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender") is a reaction that perpetrators of wrongdoing may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior.”
Hong Kong's CCP mouthpiece Wen Wei Po published an article, declaring that "remnants of the black-clad riots" & "yellow persons" have infiltrated the relief efforts of the Tai Po fire, citing residents who saw people wearing black masks, reminding them of the "troublemakers" from the 2019 protests.
November 29, 2025 at 1:37 PM
“DARVO (an acronym for "Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender") is a reaction that perpetrators of wrongdoing may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior.”
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
What does this say about the role of disinformation in destroying justice and accountability?
‘Nobody will ever believe it’: James Comer airs doubts about his own Epstein investigation
The House Oversight chair fears "so many conspiracy theories" will haunt any findings he ultimately releases.
www.politico.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM
What does this say about the role of disinformation in destroying justice and accountability?
For example: remember #JUICYJAM? The self-professed “businesswoman” who doxxed Thai protesters with information that only a government could have access to?
How likely is it that such an innocent private user is regularly on a Japanese VPN despite using the Thai version of the Android X app?
How likely is it that such an innocent private user is regularly on a Japanese VPN despite using the Thai version of the Android X app?
November 26, 2025 at 9:17 AM
For example: remember #JUICYJAM? The self-professed “businesswoman” who doxxed Thai protesters with information that only a government could have access to?
How likely is it that such an innocent private user is regularly on a Japanese VPN despite using the Thai version of the Android X app?
How likely is it that such an innocent private user is regularly on a Japanese VPN despite using the Thai version of the Android X app?
Thanks @cyn-k.bsky.social.
Linking to these reports + threads below to make it easy. Researchers at @citizenlab.ca put so much work into these investigations & can be hard to keep up with each new one. Worth noting yet again that just because someone presents something as new, esp in tech, doesn't mean it is:
…as we @citizenlab.ca have shown time and time again. Just check our #PRISONBREAK, #JUICYJAM, #HKLEAKS, Endless Mayfly, and many more reports.
November 25, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Thanks @cyn-k.bsky.social.
Reposted by Alberto Fittarelli
Linking to these reports + threads below to make it easy. Researchers at @citizenlab.ca put so much work into these investigations & can be hard to keep up with each new one. Worth noting yet again that just because someone presents something as new, esp in tech, doesn't mean it is:
…as we @citizenlab.ca have shown time and time again. Just check our #PRISONBREAK, #JUICYJAM, #HKLEAKS, Endless Mayfly, and many more reports.
X’s decision to show where its accounts are based “is, theoretically, a positive step in the direction of transparency”—yet Elon Musk may have instead revealed that the platform is “just a worthless, poisoned hall of mirrors,” @cwarzel.bsky.social argues.
November 25, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Linking to these reports + threads below to make it easy. Researchers at @citizenlab.ca put so much work into these investigations & can be hard to keep up with each new one. Worth noting yet again that just because someone presents something as new, esp in tech, doesn't mean it is: