The Information Laundromat
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-- About -
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The Information Laundromat
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- Indicators -
+The Information Laundromat
-- Search -
-- About -
- The Information Laundromat
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+
- Indicators -
+About the Dashboard
-Thi dashboard that visualizes connections between state-sponsored content and its dissemination. Users can explore top matches by source and search engine, gaining a clear view of how disinformation spreads across the internet. - Users can adjust search parameters such as publication dates, the number of matches, and similarity scores, enabling both detailed explorations and broader overviews of laundering operations. - Each match is meticulously documented with titles, sources, and match scores, providing users with the evidence needed to understand and expose information laundering tactics.
- - +Guarding the US Election Against Russian Information Laundering
+ +About the Dashboard
++ In May 2024, ASD, along with our partners at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the University of Amsterdam, + published a report documenting roughly 400 domains–ranging from mirror sites and content aggregators to faux local news outlets + and sites ostensibly focused on spirituality and men’s interests—that republished articles that were identical or nearly identical + to those that originated on Russian state media outlet RT.com. That report highlighted the urgent need for an ongoing monitoring + system to detect websites laundering content from Russian state media outlets—particularly those targeting audiences in the United States. +
++ To that end, we have paired two of ASD’s tools: the Hamilton 2.0 dashboard, which tracks, among other things, articles published + by Russian state-controlled media outlets, and the Information Laundromat, a tool that can help detect duplicate or near-duplicate + content on the open web. +
++ This dashboard aims, in part, to help secure the 2024 US elections by providing near real-time insights into how Russian state-sponsored + propaganda infiltrates and influences our digital information environment. By monitoring where content from RT and RT en Español is being + republished or amplified across the open web, this system can identify Russian content laundering sites before they reach a wider audience + in the United States. This will allow stakeholders to implement countermeasures, including but not limited to flagging content for fact-checkers + or raising public awareness about websites acting as fronts for Russian propaganda. +
++ In this critical election, every narrative and piece of information can impact voter perceptions and behavior. This tool is a frontline + defense against foreign information manipulation undermining the democratic process. +
+How It Works
++ Each day, we will run recently published articles from RT and RT en Español through the Information Laundromat to identify where that content has + been reposted or cited. This tracking is visualized in a dynamic dashboard that presents data in two main ways: +
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- Top Matches by Source: This visualization shows which websites are most frequently reposting or sharing content from RT Español and RT International, highlighting the sites that are systemic rather than episodic amplifiers of Russian state media. +
- Top Matches by Search Engine: This part of the dashboard maps the search engines (and plagiarism detection tools) where Russian content laundering sites were discovered, highlighting where people are most likely to encounter specific types of content launderers. +
+ The detailed explorer section provides a granular look at individual instances of RT content laundering, allowing users to investigate specific articles + and where those articles were potentially reposted. This continuous monitoring process ensures that the spread of Russian messaging, and any potential + disinformation narratives, can be tracked in real-time, providing crucial insights into how Russian state media content proliferates across the web. +
++ Like the ‘The Russian Propaganda Nesting Doll’ report, we used thresholds to minimize potential spurious matches. For a domain to be included on the dashboard, + it must have been surfaced in any result, with any score more than 10 times, OR between 6 and 10 times with an average match score > 60% OR 2 to 5 times, with + an average match score > 75% OR only once with a match score > 90%. Each individual result is then filtered to exclude all results with less than a 60% match + score without regard to the domain. This filtering system allows us to highlight serial launders who may also produce or host other non-laundered content. +
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