Layla Mashkoor
Deputy Director of Research, @dfrlab.bsky.social.
- I discussed Iran’s internet blackout with the New York Times. The information void is actively being filled with influence ops from Iran’s adversaries and allies. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/b... @dfrlab.bsky.social
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- Spoke to the Washington Post for this article about @dfrlab.bsky.social’s research into the online chaos that followed Maduro’s capture.
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorMalaysia and Indonesia become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and non-consensual images.
- Reposted by Layla Mashkoor"A medic at one Tehran hospital said there were "direct shots to the heads of the young people, to their hearts as well", while a doctor said an eye hospital in the capital had gone into crisis mode" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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- Internet traffc in Iran dropped to effectively zero as of 18:45 UTC (22:15 PM local time) on 1/8, signaling a complete shutdown in the country, and disconnection from the global internet -Cloudfare radar.cloudflare.com/traffic/ir?d... www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorCopy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them
- Russia sanctions 28 Canadians. The list largely targets researchers, many from HREC (holodomor.ca), plus @socialmedialab.ca. A clear sign these organizations are doing excellent work that should be protected and supported. news.zerkalo.io/world/117383...
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorMany are just waking up to the Grok-nonconsensual images story as these pictures began flooding X over the holidays, but here’s our piece from Jan 2 featuring a victim, Julie Yukari, who was brave enough to speak on the record and on camera: www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
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- It is an inalienable tenet of modern life that disinformation, much of it now AI-generated, will spread in the wake of breaking news events www.wired.com/story/disinf...
- The DFRLab has long tracked the digital means that aided in Venezuela's descent into autocracy. As Venezuela enters a pivotal moment, it is worth revisiting how Maduro weaponized digital tools. See 2024 report: "Venezuela: A Playbook for Digital Repression” www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-res...
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorColin and Sophie Hortman, the children of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, are asking Trump to remove the false posts about their parents' killing:
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorI am honoured to announce I’ve been appointed as a member to the Order of Canada. Thank you to everyone for the support! I dedicate this to my late Mom who taught me so much about history, local independent media & research. I know that she would be, like me, screaming with joy! #orderofcanada
- It has been a year of challenges and turbulence, but the work continues. dfrlab.org/2025/12/31/t...
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- I’ll be moderating this discussion on Wednesday on lessons from Moldova’s elections. Anyone who cares about information or election integrity should be closing watching what is unfolding in Moldova.
- "A.I.s end up collapsing into drivel quite a lot. They somehow manage to be both predictable and nonsensical at the same time." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
- “1 in 10 Canadian Security Intelligence Service investigations now involve at least one extremist under age 18, the agency’s director said on Nov. 13.” globalnews.ca/news/1154264...
- And this is why we need data transparency from platforms. www.thedailybeast.com/top-maga-inf...
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorMeta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
- New report! 49 African countries now use biometric systems, but weak governance, heavy reliance on foreign vendors, and limited transparency risk exclusion and surveillance. www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-res...
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- Reposted by Layla MashkoorApple removes ICE tracking apps after pressure by Trump administration reut.rs/4mIfztt
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorI spoke to parents who are letting their young kids play with generative AI and tried to sort through some of the questions they have about it. "I don’t know what this is doing to their brains," one dad told me. Meanwhile, Sam Altman says, "Kids love ChatGPT on voicemode."
- Update from @freedomflotilla.bsky.social states the Mikeno came within 7nm of Gaza before being intercepted
- The Flotilla ship Mikeno has gone dark, its current status is unknown. But it is reportedly the first civilian vessel to successfully enter Gaza’s territorial waters. www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/...
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- The Flotilla ship Mikeno has gone dark, its current status is unknown. But it is reportedly the first civilian vessel to successfully enter Gaza’s territorial waters. www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/...
- Yep. LLM poisoning is the next stage of info ops.
- A huge communications blackout has hit Afghanistan after Taliban authorities began severing fibre-optic connections in several provinces to prevent “vice” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
- My takeaway from the Klein-Coates conversation is that Klein repeatedly brushes past the central issue that Coates keeps returning to, which is that "hate is a powerful force." It's a question of when and how to engage with hateful rhetoric.
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- Just watched CBC’s Lilith Fair documentary and I can’t express how much attending an event like this today would heal my soul. youtu.be/R0DrZGl39as?...
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- Excellent thread examining the flaws in the study that led to this headline.
- 1/n A few days ago, an article appeared in The Atlantic with a bold headline “Left-wing terrorism is on the rise.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
- Major policy shift by Microsoft www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
- Today @dfrlab.bsky.social published an investigation into REST, a newly launched “media outlet” targeting Moldova ahead of its elxn. Our forensic analysis shows REST’s infrastructure and workflow is linked to milblogger channel Rybar, whose creator is sanctioned by the EU dfrlab.org/2025/09/23/s...
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorHUGE HUGE NEWS FROM EGYPT!! Egyptian President Sisi has issued a presidential pardon for activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah.
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- Reposted by Layla Mashkoor"Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds" The UN joins other experts including the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Holocaust historians, and multitudes of lawyers in concluding this is genocide. www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorScoop: Status has obtained the termination letter The Washington Post sent to @karenattiah.bsky.social, in which it informed her that she was being fired for social media posts "about white men." Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/karen-atti...
- What a news day. Frantically scrambling between news on the Arab Summit, the Kirk aftermath, and Canadian parliament reopening.
- Qatar Emir opening today’s Arab Summit: “Have you ever heard of such an aggression? A state that is party to the negotiations & yet aggresses the venue where the negotiations take place….if you wish to insist on the liberation of hostages, why then do they assassinate all the negotiators?”
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorSome personal news: I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting. Thread incoming. substack.com/@karenattiah...
- An attempt to ban social media in Nepal ended this week in violent protest with the PM ousted, Parliament in flames & soldiers on the streets. Now, the very technology the government tried to outlaw is being harnessed to help select the country’s next leader. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/w...
- I saw The Voice of Hind Rajab tonight at TIFF. A devastating film, told in a deeply impactful way. It uses the real audio of Hind throughout and transitions from a “fictional” drama to a documentary. The entire theatre was heavily sobbing. And then everyone exited the room in palpable silence.
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- Just finished Small Boat by Vincent Delacroix. An incredible read about the collective vs individual burden of responsibility to confront pervasive injustices. It evoked similar themes to Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem.
- Posting through it - foreign policy edition
- RCMP raided a cult compound in Saskatchewan belonging to a QAnon offshoot turned sovereign citizen movement www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
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- “The world's leading genocide scholars' association has passed a resolution saying that the legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza” www.reuters.com/world/middle...
- Reposted by Layla MashkoorThe Guardian has today printed the names, and where possible, images, of all the media workers killed in Gaza, as part of an international day of action involving more than 150 media organisations. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
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[Not loaded yet] - Canada announces sanctions against individuals and entities supporting Russia’s malign interference activities in Moldova. The move comes ahead of Moldova's Sept 28 parliamentary elections. www.canada.ca/en/global-af...
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- New report from DFRLab & OpenMinds Digital occupation: Pro-Russian bot networks target Ukraine’s occupied territories on Telegram to cultivate the appearance of local consensus in favor of occupation and Russian administrative control. www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-res...
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- Qatar MOD says it intercepted the missile attack. No deaths or injuries.
- Bahrain MOI confirmed warning sirens were activated across the country, as Iran threatens retaliatory attacks in the region. "Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place." x.com/moi_bahrain/...
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- Reports circulating that the UAE has closed its airspace, according to flight radar data. No official announcement yet. www.flightradar24.com/multiview/3a...
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