Campaigns
Campaign dossiers
Long reads on operations that outlast a single news cycle: state programmes, contractor chains, party and industry networks, movements and armed groups, from 1917 to 2026, each scored by the same method whoever ran it. Each dossier lays out the mechanism, the dated evidence, what would falsify the read, and how to recognise the method next time.
Illustration, not an archive object
- Brazil's WhatsApp and platform messaging networks, 2018 to 2022, and the state's responseUnidentifiedcycles closed October 30, 2022; the legal and institutional dispute continues; last verified September 29, 2026 (on September 9, 2026 the STF president ended Alexandre de Moraes's role as rapporteur of the fake news inquiry). The 2026 campaign is not assessed here.
- SCL Group and Cambridge Analytica: behavioural targeting, the Kogan data harvest and the regulatory recordUnidentifiedclosed May 3, 2018 (Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections entered administration); UK regulator's investigation closed by letter dated October 2, 2020; FTC final order against Cambridge Analytica December 6, 2019
- CENTCOM / Pentagon “gc_” newsroom networkUnidentifiedactive as of September 10, 2026
- PRC-linked AI content farms targeting TaiwanUnidentifiedactive as of September 10, 2026
- U.S. Committee on Public Information (Creel Committee), 1917-1919Identifiedclosed June 30, 1919 (Creel: Congress refused liquidation funds, and the committee ceased to exist); records now in National Archives Record Group 63
- Gulf state-linked Twitter networks and the 2017 Gulf rift information war (2014-2020)Impersonatedplatform takedowns September 20, 2019, December 20, 2019, April 2, 2020 and October 9, 2020; rift formally ended January 5, 2021 (Al-Ula declaration); court proceedings last verified June 11, 2026 (US Supreme Court venue ruling in Abouammo)
- Hanover Institute for Public Policy (LaPam / Piro / Havas)Unidentifiedactive as of September 10, 2026 (site and citations may persist after journalism)
- Indian Chronicles: revived NGOs, look-alike outlets and a newswire relay (2005 to 2023)Unidentifiedlast verified active February 23, 2023 (EU DisinfoLab found ANI still quoting non-existent sources); EP Today, Times of Geneva and 4NewsAgency reported inactive after 2019; no later independent audit found as of September 29, 2026
- Information Research Department (UK Foreign Office), 1948-1977Unidentifiedclosed April 30, 1977 on the Foreign Office's own account (Hansard, 1 February 1978); existence first made public January 27, 1978; its unattributable function passed to the Overseas Information Department
- Internet Research Agency (Russian operation aimed at US audiences, 2014 to 2018)Impersonateddisrupted November 6, 2018 (US Cyber Command action on the day of the US midterm election); Concord charges dismissed March 16, 2020; a persona network linked to former IRA activity was taken down September 1, 2020; the indictment against the IRA and 13 individuals remains open
- Iran-origin Meta CIB — fake US activist personas (H2 2026)Impersonateddisrupted on-platform as of the report; residual copies and copycats possible
- The Islamic State media apparatus and the effort to dismantle it (2013-2019)Identifieddisrupted November 22, 2019 (last large coordinated referral action against its distribution network; the territorial "caliphate" ended March 23, 2019; a reduced, dispersed output continued)
- Operation Matryoshka / Overload — German state elections 2026Impersonatedactive as of September 10, 2026
- Pentagon retired military analyst outreach (2002-2008)Unidentifiedsuspended April 28, 2008 (Pentagon spokesman confirmed the suspension; GAO called the programme "now-terminated" on July 21, 2009); last official finding DODIG-2012-025 issued November 21, 2011; no later activity found
- Paid and volunteer online influence networks in Philippine politics, 2016 to 2022Unidentifiedlast platform action reviewed January 21, 2022 (Twitter suspensions of a pro-Marcos Jr. network, which the campaign disputed); earlier Facebook removals March 28, 2019 and September 22, 2020; the industry described by researchers has no end date
- Russia Social Design Agency — Projects 2026Unidentifiedactive as of September 10, 2026 (hosts have suspended some clones; residual index and plans remain)
- South Africa's Department of Information secret projects, 1972-1979 ("Muldergate")Unidentifiedclosed June 4, 1979 (Vorster resigned as State President after the second Erasmus report; the Department had been dissolved in 1978); *The Citizen* still publishes, under other owners
- US Cigarette Makers' Joint Doubt Programme (1953 to 2006)Unidentifiedclosed as an organised programme by November 23, 1998 (the Council for Tobacco Research was dissolved on November 6, 1998 under the Minnesota settlement; the Master Settlement Agreement of November 23, 1998 required the Tobacco Institute and the Center for Indoor Air Research to close); liability judgment August 17, 2006, largely affirmed May 22, 2009; record last verified September 29, 2026
