AI disinformation is no longer just about deepfakes. It is now about poisoned search results, chatbot hallucinations, meme-driven propaganda, and a fast-growing economy built to exploit chaos. Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald from the Alan Turing Institute unpack the new playbook - and why the next information war may be won before the truth even has a chance to catch up.  Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss evidence of Russian and American voices in the up-coming Alberta independence referendum as well as a new example of information laundering from the current war with Iran.

AI disinformation is no longer just about deepfakes. It is now about poisoned search results, chatbot hallucinations, meme-driven propaganda, and a fast-growing economy built to exploit chaos. Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald from the Alan Turing Institute unpack the new playbook - and why the next information war may be won before the truth even has a chance to catch up.&nbsp; Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss evidence of Russian and American voices in the up-coming Alberta independence referendum as well as a new example of information laundering from the current war with Iran.

From the Pell Center at Salve Regina University and the creators of the Active Measures Newsletter, a weekly dive into the latest trends in political warfare, influence, and information campaigns. 

From the Pell Center at Salve Regina University and the creators of the Active Measures Newsletter, a weekly dive into the latest trends in political warfare, influence, and information campaigns.

A weekly dive into the headlines in the Active Measures Newsletter from the Pell Center at Salve Regina University.

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast

EPISODE DESCRIPTION - Ready to publish AI disinformation is no longer just about deepfakes. It is now about poisoned search results, chatbot hallucinations, meme-driven propaganda, and a fast-growing economy built to exploit chaos. Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald unpack the new playbook - and why the next information war may be won before the truth even has a chance to catch up. Together, they break down the AI Disinformation Incident Repository, an open dataset tracking real-world cases where AI is used to manipulate information during terrorist attacks, riots, wars, and other crisis events. Sam explains how the repository works, why incidents are increasing, and how journalists, fact-checkers, and researchers are documenting the spread of synthetic images, edited footage, and AI-generated claims in real time. Broderick widens the lens, arguing that the real threat is an epistemic crisis - one that reaches beyond deepfakes into the training data, retrieval pipelines, and systems people rely on to decide what is true. You'll discover: Why AI-generated misinformation does not need to be believable to be effective How false content can go viral at 3x the rate of manual disinformation Why crisis moments like Southport, Belfast, and the Iran conflict create perfect conditions for manipulation How foreign-linked, domestic, and financially motivated actors now overlap Why "shadow influencers" are turning outrage into income How chatbots can be poisoned by fake or misleading source material Why transparency around model weighting and data hygiene matters now more than ever The conversation also explores how state and non-state actors are using AI to flood the information environment with content designed for both human audiences and machine ingestion. From fake news articles meant to corrupt LLM outputs to AI-generated videos that do not need to look real in order to shape perception, this episode shows how the battle over truth has changed. If you care about national security, media literacy, AI safety, or simply understanding why it is getting harder to tell what is real online, this is essential listening. The tools are changing fast, the tactics are adapting even faster, and the consequences are reaching far beyond the feed.

The AI Disinformation Incident Repository with Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald

Election interference doesn’t have to change votes to be effective.  The long history of Russian efforts to target specific communities in the United States mirrors domestic efforts to suppress votes.  These measures don’t require AI, social media, or bot-farms—they simply require a decent understanding of one candidate’s voters.  With that, anyone can generate an effective campaign to confuse voters or suppress turn-out with the ultimate goal of undermining confidence in democratic processes and institutions.  Russia has a long history of this tactic, and Mark Jacobson reviews the last decade of Russian campaigns targeting voters in successive American elections.

Election interference doesn&rsquo;t have to change votes to be effective.&nbsp; The long history of Russian efforts to target specific communities in the United States mirrors domestic efforts to suppress votes.&nbsp; These measures don&rsquo;t require AI, social media, or bot-farms&mdash;they simply require a decent understanding of one candidate&rsquo;s voters.&nbsp; With that, anyone can generate an effective campaign to confuse voters or suppress turn-out with the ultimate goal of undermining confidence in democratic processes and institutions.&nbsp; Russia has a long history of this tactic, and Mark Jacobson reviews the last decade of Russian campaigns targeting voters in successive American elections.

This short solo episode from Mark Jacobson looks at how foreign influence operations have repeatedly targeted Black American voters, from robocalls in Maryland to Russian IRA social media accounts and AI-generated imagery in 2024. The core argument is that the goal is often not persuasion, but suppression, distrust, and disengagement from democratic participation. Jacobson connects those tactics to a broader warning for the 2026 midterms: even when the technology changes, the strategy stays the same. The real objective is to widen existing divisions and convince people that institutions and elections are not worth trusting.

Special Edition: Mark Jacobson on Effective Election Disinformation 

Hostile information activity is no longer just about false claims, but about intimidation, disruption, and shaping the conditions in which politics and policy unfold. In this week’s episode, Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson provide a wide-ranging update on current foreign malign influence efforts, from suspected break-ins at Finnish lawmakers’ homes to Russia’s growing use of cloned media outlets and AI-assisted deception. They also examine how Australia, Britain, and the United States are wrestling with the harder question of how democracies should respond without sliding into censorship.

Hostile information activity is no longer just about false claims, but about intimidation, disruption, and shaping the conditions in which politics and policy unfold. In this week&rsquo;s episode, Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson provide a wide-ranging update on current foreign malign influence efforts, from suspected break-ins at Finnish lawmakers&rsquo; homes to Russia&rsquo;s growing use of cloned media outlets and AI-assisted deception. They also examine how Australia, Britain, and the United States are wrestling with the harder question of how democracies should respond without sliding into censorship.

“We were here and we can come back again,” with Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson

Foreign election interference aims to weaken trust in democracy more than to change vote counts.  New York Times reporter Dustin Volz takes us inside his recent reporting on U.S. intelligence tracking current foreign efforts to influence America’s election.  The Russians are still sewing chaos; the Chinese are attacking down-ballot races, and the Iranians—locked in an intense fight with the United States—emerge as the wild card as we head into the mid-term elections.  Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also look at the remarkable speech by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham announcing the formation of a new, information defense agency.

Foreign election interference aims to weaken trust in democracy more than to change vote counts.&nbsp; New York Times reporter Dustin Volz takes us inside his recent reporting on U.S. intelligence tracking current foreign efforts to influence America&rsquo;s election.&nbsp; The Russians are still sewing chaos; the Chinese are attacking down-ballot races, and the Iranians&mdash;locked in an intense fight with the United States&mdash;emerge as the wild card as we head into the mid-term elections.&nbsp; Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also look at the remarkable speech by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham announcing the formation of a new, information defense agency.

Foreign election interference aims to weaken trust in democracy more than to change vote counts.  New York Times reporter Dustin Volz takes us inside his recent reporting on U.S. intelligence tracking current foreign efforts to influence America’s election.  The Russians are still sewing chaos; the Chinese are attacking down-ballot races, and the Iranians—locked in an intense fight with the United States—emerge as the wild card as we head into the mid-term elections.  Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also look at the remarkable speech by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnhamm announcing the formation of a information defense agency.

The AI Disinformation Incident Repository with Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald

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