As I mentioned in the earlier posts in this series, the nature of my work steers my choices towards documentaries about human rights, frontline journalism, conflict, and state corruption - but for each year I’ll also recommend a film or two that’s slightly different.

This latest instalment in my retrospective of a decade at DocFest focuses on the stand-out films from 2022 and 2023.

2022: The Amazon, Wikileaks & Russian injustice

The Territory (Alex Pritz) is a beautifully shot documentary about the competing interests in the future of the Amazon rainforest - including the indigenous people for whom the forest is ancestral land, and the farmers and settlers trying to make a living.

The drama is gripping. But what makes this film special is that the filmmakers give a voice to all the disparate groups seeking to sustain themselves from the forest’s resources.

I met the film’s director, Alex Pritz, in 2015 on an unforgettable battlefield medical training course in Nairobi run by Reporters Instructed in the Saving of Colleagues (RISC) - an organisation that sadly was forced to close in 2025.

Shortly after we met, Alex stepped in at the eleventh hour to contribute his brilliant camera work to a film shoot in a Kenyan refugee camp for Lions & Tigers, the documentary I’m making about South Sudan’s national wheelchair basketball team.

Such is Alex’s skill, commitment and creative spark that it was no surprise to me that a few years later I was watching his award-winning documentary.

The New Greatness Case (Anna Shishova) is the gruesome story of a Russian teenager sentenced to prison after being entrapped, groomed and radicalised by the state security service.

The film lifts the veil on how citizens of Russia are silenced, oppressed, and unlawfully imprisoned by their own government.

Ithaka – A Fight to Free Julian Assange (Ben Lawrence) is a film of many layers. That the fight for the release of such a high profile figure as Julian Assange fell on the shoulders of his previously absent father is a testament to how controversial a figure the WikiLeaks founder became.

But Assange’s father also finds himself fighting for principles of free speech and press freedom that political authoritarianism, corporate power and public apathy have continued to erode.

And for something different…

One Day at a Time (Paul Chambers) - a beautiful, touching film about drug and alcohol addiction and recovery in Liverpool

Moonage Daydream (Brett Morgan) - an immersive ride through the music and art of David Bowie that seeks to show something of his inner life

No Place for You in Our Town (Nikolay Stefanov) - an intimate story of football gang members in the Bulgarian former industrial city of Pernik

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2023: Russian politics & conflict in Ukraine

20 Days in Mariupol (Mstyslav Chernov) - This astonishing, Oscar-winning documentary was captured by journalists who remained in the strategic Ukrainian port of Mariupol even as the noose was tightening around a city besieged by invading Russian forces.

In the weeks following the Russian full-scale attack on Ukraine on 22 February 2022, Chernov and his crew were determined to share what was happening with the wider world, as Russian forces targeted civilians, residential buildings, and health facilities. They continued to film even as Russian tanks arrived in the streets around their building.

The film gives us an unrivalled insight into the brutality of the Russian attacks on Ukraine, and the war crimes committed by the occupying troops.

The Price of Truth (Patrick Forbes) is a documentary about determination, bravery, and defiance in the face of state oppression. It tells the story of Dmitry Muratov and his small team of colleagues upholding the principles of press freedom through the publication of Russia’s one remaining independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta.

In doing so they have to withstand not only the state’s suppression of opposition media, but also direct physical attacks against the paper’s staff.

And for something different:

Praying for Armageddon (Michael Rowley & Tonje Hessen Schei) - a chilling documentary exploring the power and influence of American Evangelical Christians at the very pinnacle of US politics as they aim to fulfil the Armageddon prophecy

Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes (Sam Pollard & Ben Shapiro) - the little known story of a musician and activist who was the pulse behind many of the greatest jazz musicians of the twentieth century - and after whom Max Roach Park in my London neighbourhood of Brixton is named

Looking back, 2022 and 2023 marked a palpable resurgence in documentary cinema after the pandemic.

Sadly, the stand-out festival films of those years are a reminder that despite a shared global shock emphasising our common humanity, the post-pandemic years were no less tarnished by conflict, authoritarianism, and attacks on political opponents and independent media than those before.

But in the face of such destruction, warmongering and authoritarianism, the filmmakers whose work was showcased at DocFest demonstrate a determination to bear witness, ensuring that these critical issues are not hidden from view.

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As mentioned in the first post in the series, the nature of my own journalism work steers my choices towards documentaries about conflict, human rights, frontline journalism, and state corruption — but for each year I’ll also recommend a film or two that’s slightly different.

Watergate: One of the most absorbing political scandals in modern history

One of my all-time favourite films, and an influential one in my decision to become an investigative journalist, is All The President’s Men.

In the 1976 film, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford play journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they pursue an investigation into the Watergate scandal, which ultimately toppled the administration of US President Richard Nixon.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that a documentary on the same subject lasting more than four hours might be too much even for me.

But the combination of a story more compelling than fiction with the incredible archive of tape recordings President Nixon made of his conversations as the scandal unfolded means that Watergate never sags.

Directed by Charles Ferguson, the film provides a remarkable insight into the succession of political developments that eventually brought down the president. I could happily have watched another four hours.

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For Sama: Essential viewing on Syria’s civil war

For Sama is one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts, it was filmed over five years in Aleppo, Syria, during the Assad regime’s brutal bombardment of the city.

As bombs lay waste to entire districts of Aleppo — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — Waad is in the heart of it all, filming. Her husband, Hamza al-Kateab, is one of the only doctors left in the city. His makeshift hospital, managing on only the most basic supplies, is forced to relocate as the Syrian army deliberately targets Aleppo’s health facilities.

Amidst all this, Waad and Hamza welcome a baby into the world, Sama. Waad narrates the film as a story for her daughter about the deadly maelstrom into which she has been born.

I had the opportunity to meet Waad and Hamza at a conference on disinformation last year, at which Hamza was speaking. I mentioned to Waad how much I’d appreciated seeing For Sama. “The same thing is happening all over again now in Gaza,” she said.

The Great Hack: How personal data became a political weapon

The Great Hack (Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim) is a gripping work of investigative filmmaking that delves into the nefarious activities of a UK company called Cambridge Analytica, which exploited Facebook user data in an effort to influence voters — including in the UK’s 2016 referendum on EU membership (Brexit) and the election of US President Donald Trump that same year. It was a chilling watch.

The film is a powerful exposé of the influence of social media on elections and the abuse of user data. It brings to the fore issues that are becoming increasingly problematic today, such as user privacy and data rights, echo chambers, and political polarisation.

The issues raised in The Great Hack are also an important backdrop to current concerns about a digital world that is expanding beyond the reach of regulation (some of which I explore in this article), including the dangers of digital discrimination, the growing use of AI to shape what information people see, and influence operations, in which a foreign country or other group aims to shift public opinion using targeted data manipulation.

Watch The Great Hack

Also worth exploring…

In Edge of Democracy, director Petra Costa brings a different perspective to the corruption investigations known as ‘Operation Car Wash’ that led to the incarceration of Brazil’s former President Lula. The film focuses not only on the targets of the investigations, but also on the political weaponisation of the institutions of state that conducted them.

The Brink (Alison Klayman) tells the story of former Trump administration chief strategist Steve Bannon, and in particular his efforts to build a global alliance of far-right parties that share their experiences and expertise in order to convert populist appeal into political power.

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And for something different…

Apollo 11 (Todd Douglas Miller) uses original footage without addition or narration to tell the story of the 1969 US mission to land humans on the moon. It’s one of the most awe-inspiring films I’ve ever seen. There was a deliberate plan for the mission to have state-of-the-art cameras shooting on 70mm film, and the results are spectacular.

The opening night film of DocFest 2019, Diego Maradona (Asif Kapadia) is an immersive account of the extraordinary skills that made Maradona one of the best footballers ever to play the game, alongside an exploration of his background, personality and drug addiction, and how, while playing for Napoli, he was manipulated by the Italian mafia.

The next post in the series will feature a selection of the best documentaries from 2022-23, including films about a fatal clash of interests in the Amazon rainforest, the brutality of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the chilling influence of Christian evangelists on US President Donald Trump.

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For years, policymakers and analysts have tended to characterise Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance as a centralised system, with Tehran provisioning and directing a collection of proxy organisations, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen.

But there is compelling evidence that some members of this network are no longer passive recipients of Iranian support. Increasingly, they can manufacture sophisticated weapons, train other armed groups, build their own procurement networks, and adapt independently when traditional supply routes are disrupted.

This is the central argument presented in Beyond the Axis, a groundbreaking report published last week by Century International,1 to which I contributed my Sudan expertise.

The ‘Capability Ladder’

Drawing on a wealth of cross-disciplinary evidence,2 the report analyses the evolution of Iran’s relationship with other members of the Axis, and shows how in certain cases its partners have grown from a reliance on the provision of complete Iranian weapons systems to building their own weaponry, and later becoming hubs for the cultivation of new partners.

The report names this process the capability ladder. Hezbollah, and more recently the Houthis, have reached the top rung. There is evidence that the Houthis, for example, are now providing weapons training to groups such as the Sudanese Armed Forces, and al-Shabaab in Somalia. Other groups continue to climb the ladder.

Drones & modern warfare

Anyone following the conflicts in recent years in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, and the Middle East will be well aware of how modern warfare has been re-defined by the dramatic growth in the production of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles - or drones), and the proliferation of drone technology.

The report shows how Iranian drones - particularly one-way attack drones, also known as suicide drones - have been deployed by armed groups in several of these conflicts.

It also demonstrates how, at a certain point in the relationship, armed groups climbing the capability ladder are provided with complete Iranian weapons systems. Further up the ladder, they are given the technology and training to assemble, or manufacture, the systems without the involvement of Tehran.

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Global trade re-mapped

The development of this ecosystem has been made possible by changes in the configuration of global trade.

China has overtaken the US as the world’s largest exporter of manufactured goods, and new international trading hubs have emerged. This means there is now a global network for the shipment of arms components that is beyond the reach of Western regulations or sanctions.

Policy implications

The report makes clear the policy challenges posed not just by the direct threat of Iran and the Axis, but by drone proliferation and armed groups within the ecosystem. There are no easy solutions, but the report highlights the tell-tale signs that might help policymakers take advantage of a narrowing window of opportunity to intervene.

If groups can build their own one-way attack drones from components sourced from indigenously run supply chains, the report considers them to have reached capability breakout, at which point it becomes infinitely more difficult to degrade and destroy them.

The capability ladder model - and the tracking of drone proliferation as a marker of progress up the rungs - can help policy actors identify which groups are pre- and post-breakout, and therefore which might be susceptible to intervention.

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Link to the report

Occasionally I have a moment of doubt as to whether I’ll make it to the following year’s festival. But once there I find myself wondering how I could have contemplated missing it.

Many of the documentaries the festival has showcased over the years - usually world, UK or international premieres - are among my favourite films. Every year I learn about a new part of the world, a new issue, a new way of looking at things.

In a series of articles over the coming weeks, I’ll share with you what for me were the most compelling films at the festival each year, starting with 2016-2018.

The nature of my work means my choices tend to focus on documentaries that deal with human rights issues, conflict, frontline journalism, and state corruption - but for each year I’ll also recommend a film or two that’s slightly different.

2016: James Foley & Kirsten Johnson

The most memorable film for me at my first ‘Sheffield’ was the deeply affecting Jim: The James Foley Story, about the photojournalist who at the age of 40 became the first US citizen executed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The film was made by Jim’s childhood friend, Brian Oakes, and features moving interviews with Jim’s friends, family, colleagues and fellow hostages, alongside the story of how he was captured and imprisoned first in Libya and later, by ISIS, in Syria.

Jim was passionate and courageous; but more than anything, this film is about his humanity, his generosity, and his kindness.

Watch the trailer

Another stand-out film from DocFest 2016 was the fascinating Cameraperson by Kirsten Johnson, which provides a refreshing perspective on documentary filmmaking - from behind the camera.

Cameraperson tells the personal story of Johnson’s 25-year career as a cinematographer, working on impactful and hugely successful films such as the Oscar-winning Citizenfour - in which Edward Snowden exposed illegal US government surveillance - and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, about the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

I also remember Michael Moore warning at the festival of the likelihood that the UK’s referendum on EU membership a few days later would return a ‘Leave’ decision, and that Donald Trump would win the US presidency in November that year…

And for something different:

My Scientology Movie (John Dower) - an exposé of the secretive and controversial Church of Scientology written by and starring Louis Theroux

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2017: Russian sports doping & nuclear arms

The stand-out film for me in 2017 was the Oscar-winning Icarus. The film starts out as a bid by director Bryan Fogel, a keen amateur cyclist, to expose the limitations of the sport’s anti-doping system.

In doing so, Fogel stumbles upon a sporting scandal of epic proportions: a former head of Russia's national anti-doping laboratory confesses his complicity in alleged drug test manipulation at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi - at which Russia won 13 gold medals.

Even now, Russia remains banned from Olympic sport as investigations into state doping allegations continue.

DocFest 2017 also featured Eric Schlosser’s The Bomb, a hypnotising meditation on humanity’s obsession with weapons of mass destruction.

Screened at Sheffield’s state-of-the-art cinema The Light, the film captures the power and beauty of nuclear explosions in a way that is uncomfortably compelling.

Also worthy of mention from 2017 are Risk (Laura Poitras), a close-up portrait of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange; and The Force (Peter Nicks), about misconduct and attempted reforms in the Oakland Police department.

And for something different:

Whitney “Can I Be Me” (Nick Broomfield) - about the music industry’s manipulation of the supremely talented Whitney Houston

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2018: Frontline journalism & war crimes

This year’s outstanding film was Chris Martin’s Under the Wire, another devastating story of a journalist killed while reporting. This time, the tragedy was that of the indomitable US frontline reporter Marie Colvin.

The film tells the story of what turned out to be a deadly mission to Syria by Colvin - a war correspondent for the UK’s The Sunday Times newspaper - and freelance photographer Paul Conroy, to cover the plight of civilians trapped in the city of Homs.

It was February 2012, the second of what was to be a three-year siege of Homs in response to anti-regime protests in the city. Homs was under relentless bombardment by the Syrian army, including what were described by Colvin as "absolutely sickening" indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

The festival also featured The Congo Tribunal (Milo Rau), a remarkable film that brought attention to an often-neglected conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has claimed more than 6 million lives.

The film project assembled witnesses, perpetrators and analysts for a three-day civil tribunal in front of a panel of experts to examine the atrocities that were carried out with impunity over more than two decades.

And for something different:

McQueen (Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui) - a revealing documentary about the magnetic personality and troubled life of fashion designer Alexander McQueen

People’s Republic of Desire (Hao Wu) - a story of the personal fallout from becoming a streaming sensation in China

The next article in this series features the mind-blowing story of the first moon landing, an epic film about the Watergate scandal, and the chilling story of voter manipulation using Facebook data in the year of Brexit and Trump’s first election…

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DocFest 2025 was one of the strongest documentary programmes I’ve seen in a decade of annual pilgrimages to Sheffield.

For me, the festival was defined by three films about the Ukraine war, one about the brutality of the US prison system, and an investigation into the disputed authorship of one of the world’s most famous wartime images.

1. A Simple Soldier

A Simple Soldier, by directors Artem Ryzhykov and Juan Camilo Cruz, tells Artem’s own story of how a filmmaker with a determination to play his part in defending his country ended up on the frontlines of Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Artem is told if he wants to film on the frontline he has to enlist for three years of active service - and he has five minutes to decide. Despite knowing he’s far from a natural soldier, his immediate instinct is to say yes.

2. 2000 Meters to Andriivka

2000 Meters to Andriivka is the sensational follow-up to the Bafta- and Oscar-winning 20 days in Mariupol from Mstyslav Chernov.

Combining Chernov’s own footage with that shot from soldiers’ bodycams, the film gives us a first-hand experience of a Ukrainian platoon’s mission to liberate a strategic village from Russian forces.

The intimacy of the footage as we meet soldiers under fire as they navigate a narrow strip of heavily protected forest - to ultimately take back a bleak and decimated Ukrainian village - is mind-blowing.

Here’s where to watch 2000 Meters to Andriivka

3. Mr Nobody Against Putin

Oscar-winning Mr Nobody Against Putin tells the story of Pavel Talankin, a schoolteacher and videographer who witnesses the propaganda campaign the Russian state is waging on its own children and decides he cannot idly stand by.

Talankin begins to covertly film the state’s indoctrination practices as they become more and more extreme. Children are forced to march in school corridors, tested on their knowledge of the history of Russian claims to Crimea, and given scripted answers to teachers’ questions - which Talankin must film.

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Talankin is unable to resist other small acts of subversion - at one point replacing the daily national anthem with Lady Gaga’s Star Spangled Banner. His opposition to the war makes him guilty of treason, and ultimately Talankin must flee the country.

Here’s where to watch Mr Nobody Against Putin

4. The Alabama Solution

The Alabama Solution is a horrifying exposé about the sometimes fatal abuses perpetrated by prison guards in the state prison system in Alabama.

The Oscar-nominated film follows inmates at Easterling Correctional Facility in Clio, Alabama, as they use contraband mobile phones to document abuses perpetrated in the prison and make efforts to organise in support of fellow inmates’ basic human rights.

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Among the tragic cases delved into over the course of a six-year investigation is that of Steven Davis, who was beaten to death by prison guards. The inmates who sought to organise protests over prison conditions and mistreatment have themselves been brutally punished.

Here’s where you can watch The Alabama Solution

5. The Stringer

The Stringer follows war photographer Gary Knight as he investigates the origin of one of the most impactful wartime photographs ever taken.

The 1972 photograph, commonly referred to as Napalm girl, captured a girl fleeing an attack by US-allied South Vietnamese air forces on the town of Trảng Bàng during the Vietnam War. The Pulitzer Prize-winning image is widely credited with galvanising US public opinion against the war.

The Stringer combines field research, key witness interviews, and forensic evidence assembled by Paris-based investigative NGO Index, to cast doubt on the attribution of the photo to a Vietnamese-American Associated Press photographer - instead identifying the local stringer who almost certainly captured the image.

Here’s where you can watch The Stringer

Together, these five films offer a powerful reminder of documentary cinema's ability to place audiences at the heart of conflicts, injustices and contested truths that might otherwise remain unexplored.

I’m hoping for more of the same at this year’s festival - and I’ll be sure to report back.

This edition of the Media & Disinformation Update from perspicacity features:

• The AI detection tools falsely labelling genuine content as synthetic

• A major European AI chatbot’s susceptibility to Iranian war propaganda

• Claude’s increasing vulnerability to state-backed disinformation

• How major technology platforms are promoting AI-powered ‘nudify’ apps

• Wikipedia’s ban on AI-generated articles

• A landmark challenge in Brazil to the use of journalism content by AI platforms

• Europe’s efforts to regulate harmful AI applications while delaying wider AI safeguards

perspicacity is committed to sharing investigative, fact-based reporting that meets the highest standards of journalistic integrity. To access the full stories summarised below, click on the links.

AI AUTHENTICATION

Leading AI image detection tools mislead online users, often declaring authentic content fake

NewsGuard, 8 May 2026

AI detection tools are known to sometimes misidentify AI-generated images as real, but an audit of leading AI detection tools has found another concerning weakness: three of the five leading tools tested thought real images were fake.

According to NewsGuard’s findings, the tools collectively declared authentic images to be AI-generated 13% of the time. This vulnerability has potentially significant consequences, empowering bad actors to dispute reality by citing a detection tool to argue that a given image is fake - and unfairly maligning those posting the real images.

ScamAI, which claims “Industry-leading accuracy” on its website, declared that six of 15 authentic images were AI-generated - a 40% fail rate. Hive and Sightengine correctly identified all 15 authentic images as real.

AI SLOP

Anthropic’s AI chatbot is learning more on Russian and Iranian propaganda sources, NewsGuard audit finds

NewsGuard, 4 May 2026

Anthropic’s AI chatbot Claude repeated false claims 15% of the time when it was asked about pro-Kremlin falsehoods - and cited Russian state-affiliated media every time - a NewsGuard audit found.

This marks a sharp increase compared to seven previous audits between March 2025 and February 2026, when Claude cited Russian state-affiliated sources only 4% of the time on similar prompts.

The increase suggests that Claude has become more vulnerable to state disinformation campaigns.

NewsGuard has been auditing Claude and nine other chatbots since July 2024, and Claude has consistently been among the top performers.

Related:

• Why the racist AI slop industry is booming

  The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 19 May 2026

• The devout Muslim making a living from Islamophobic AI slop

  The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 5 May 2026

FAKE NEWS

Mistral’s Le Chat, Europe’s leading AI chatbot, repeats falsehoods half the time when prompted on state-sponsored Iran War disinformation

NewsGuard, 28 April 2026

Europe’s leading home-grown chatbot is also a leading propaganda spreader. When prompted on false claims about the war in Iran advanced by Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state-aligned networks or outlets, Paris-based Mistral AI’s chatbot, Le Chat, repeated falsehoods 50% of the time in English and 57% of the time in French, an April 2026 NewsGuard audit found.

The findings suggest that Le Chat, the most prominent European-made chatbot, is vulnerable to state-sponsored disinformation, potentially increasing its spread.

2026 Iran War: 103 false claims and counting

NewsGuard, 8 May 2026

NewsGuard has identified 103 false claims related to the Iran conflict that collectively have attracted hundreds of millions of views. Three trends are apparent: the false claims push a pro-Iran agenda; they have evolved from using misrepresented ‘real’ photos and videos to using AI-generated imagery; and increasingly they involve assertions that accurate stories published by authentic media are AI-generated disinformation.

Wikipedia bans AI-generated articles

The Verge, 26 March 2026

Wikipedia will no longer allow editors to write or rewrite articles using AI. The update, which was added to Wikipedia’s guidelines late last week, cites as the reason for the ban the tendency for AI-written articles to violate “several of Wikipedia’s core content policies.”

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INFLUENCE OPERATIONS

TikTok accounts use AI-generated videos to incite anti-government protests in Moldova

Digital Forensic Research Lab, 3 April 2026

A network of at least 25 TikTok accounts appeared to co-ordinate the dissemination and amplification of AI-generated content targeting Moldova’s ruling Party of Action and Solidarity and the country’s president, Maia Sandu. It also sought to mobilise residents to participate in protests scheduled for 25 March, which ultimately did not take place.

The seeder accounts primarily published AI-generated videos that depicted fabricated protest scenes in Moldova. The videos often featured synthetic crowds and called for citizens to join anti-government demonstrations.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Unprecedented proceeding against Google opens way to fair compensation for journalism in Brazil

Reporters Without Borders, 4 May 2026

Brazil’s competition authority has for the first time opened proceedings against a tech giant to investigate the harm it has caused to journalism. The proceedings were launched into Google News and Google’s search engine, whose features use generative artificial intelligence.

The members of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, Brazil’s anti-trust authority, unanimously concluded that there is evidence of anti-competitive conduct by Google in its use of journalistic content, including services that use generative AI.

From displaying short excerpts from news articles in search results to generating AI-powered responses using content from the press, Google has increasingly extracted value from journalistic content, reduced traffic to news sites and undermined their ability to sustain themselves through advertising revenue.

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NON-CONSENSUAL INTIMATE IMAGES

Apple and Google steer users to nudify apps

Tech Transparency Project, 15 April 2026

Apple and Google are helping users to find apps that create deepfake nude images of women, a Tech Transparency Project investigation has found, showing how the platforms are key participants in the spread of AI tools that can turn real people into sexualised images.

The Tech Transparency Project revealed in January that the Apple and Google app stores each hosted dozens of ‘nudify’ and undressing apps that can digitally ‘strip off’ someone’s clothes. This latest investigation found that the app stores’ search and advertising systems actually point users to such apps, giving them increased visibility.

EU backs nude app ban and delays to landmark AI rules

The Verge, 26 March 2026

European lawmakers have voted to delay key parts of the EU AI Act, the bloc’s flagship law for regulating artificial intelligence, while also backing proposals to ban nudify apps. The proposals would push back looming deadlines for watermarking AI-generated content and high-risk AI systems.

The measures, approved by a large majority in the European Parliament, would push back compliance deadlines for developers of high-risk AI systems — those deemed to pose a “serious risk” to health, safety, or fundamental rights — until December 2027.

Companies developing AI systems covered by specific safety rules in sectors like toys or medical devices would have even longer to comply, with a proposed deadline of August 2028. Rules requiring providers to watermark AI-generated content would also be delayed until November 2026. All of these measures had originally been set to take effect in August 2026.

Members also backed proposals to include a ban on nudify apps in the revised AI Act, following widespread outrage in the EU over the flood of Grok’s sexualised deepfakes on X earlier this year.

At scale, such practices are often referred to as influence operations. Influence operations can be carried out by governments or by non-state actors, and can target people’s opinions on anything from a domestic political figure or a wartime adversary to a contentious issue such as climate change.

Influence operations that target another country are often known as Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). This is defined as co-ordinated, deceptive behaviour by foreign actors to manipulate the information environment of another state. The aim is usually to undermine the values or political processes of that state, often during war or elections.

Influence operations – including FIMI – often feature disinformation, but they can also amplify genuine information, or restrict access to information in a targeted way.

This edition of perspicacity’s Media & Disinformation Update focuses on influence operations carried out by China and Russia – though they are far from the only perpetrators.

perspicacity is committed to sharing investigative, fact-based reporting that meets the highest standards of journalistic integrity. To access the full stories summarised below, click on the links.

CHINA

How a Chinese marketing network quietly injects political narratives into Taiwanese lifestyle content

Reporters Without Borders, 23 April 2026

A new investigation by Reporters Without Borders reveals how Facebook pages posing as lifestyle hubs for hobbies and health tips inject Beijing’s political narratives into their feeds to influence public opinion in Taiwan.

China-linked influence operation targets Tibetan elections

Digital Forensic Research Lab, 24 April 2026

A Chinese influence operation consisting of 90 Facebook profiles and 13 Instagram profiles targeted the 26 April elections for the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile. The operation was connected to a larger network posting narratives about the Philippines, the US, Taiwan, and Japan.

RUSSIA

How Russia recruits teenagers in occupied Ukraine for a pro-Moscow propaganda machine

Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project, 30 April 2026

Trips to Russia, master classes from Kremlin-aligned media figures, and lessons in Soviet military glory: through its ‘Young Correspondents’ programme, Russia is training teenagers in occupied Ukraine to promote the invasion and wage information war on Moscow’s behalf.

Russian influence campaign shifts to target Ukraine’s European allies funding its defense

NewsGuard, 27 February 2026

As the US pulled back financial support, a Russian influence operation known as Storm-1516 has targeted France and Germany with false claims amassing hundreds of millions of views.

The operation has shifted its strategy to no longer just spreading false claims about Ukraine, but also aiming disparaging narratives at French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – apparently in an effort to discredit two of Ukraine’s staunchest allies as they move to fill the near-total eradication of US financial support for Ukraine.

Sanctioned Kremlin-affiliated content persists via Pravda Network, attempting to shape Ukraine’s image abroad

Digital Forensic Research Lab, 3 April 2026

A massive, semi-automated, pro-Kremlin disinformation operation known as the Pravda Network is using hundreds of websites in dozens of countries to aggregate and amplify Russian state narratives, laundering sanctioned Russian media and exploiting gaps in EU enforcement.

Despite extensive sanctions targeting Kremlin-affiliated media actors that spread false information, their content remains easily accessible within the EU. Actors such as the Pravda Network compound the problem by saturating the EU information space with pro-Kremlin content.

Content posted in early February and disseminated by websites linked to the Pravda Network promoted pro-Kremlin narratives featuring disinformation around Ukraine’s imminent loss in the war.

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Information manipulation during elections in Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, and Azerbaijan

Digital Forensic Research Lab, 31 March 2026

Recent elections in Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan reveal how foreign and domestic actors combine to shape information environments, exploiting narratives, digital platforms, and political vulnerabilities to influence electoral discourse. Parliamentary elections in Armenia in the coming days will test the nation’s democratic resilience after decades of tensions with Azerbaijan.

All four countries exist within overlapping zones of Russian influence and interference, Western engagement, and contested territorial sovereignty.

Maintaining friendly powers at all costs

Forbidden Stories, 13 March 2026

Russian influence agents engaged in covert operations during election campaigns in South Africa, Namibia and Madagascar between 2019 and 2025, according to a data leak reviewed by Forbidden Stories and its partners.

Related:

• Sixty Russian agents identified: Prigozhin’s influence network taken over by the Foreign Intelligence Service

  Forbidden Stories, 20 February 2026

• Propaganda machine: Secret documents reveal Russia’s foreign influence strategy across three continents

  Forbidden Stories, 14 February 2026

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Fabricated EU economic loss counter used to undermine sanctions support in Estonia

Digital Forensic Research Lab, 27 April 2026

A global, cross-platform, pro-Kremlin information influence campaign falsely claimed that the EU is losing €65-135 million ($76-159 million) every day as a result of sanctions against Russia. The narrative circulated widely online and echoed within Estonia’s Russian-language information space.

Morocco-based YouTube channel acts as French-language proxy for sanctioned Kremlin propagandists

Digital Forensic Research Lab, 10 April 2026

A Morocco-based YouTube channel is platforming sanctioned Russian ideologues and pro-Kremlin propagandists to French-speaking audiences. Despite hosting sanctioned content, the channel remains available throughout the EU and has amassed over 10.5 million views.

• The legality of the US war on Iran in the absence of authorisation from Congress

• The displacement of thousands of vulnerable, unaccompanied children from Sudan as the 3-year conflict continues

• War crimes on all sides as thou…

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• AI-enabled cybercrime - and the UN cybercrime treaty

• Polymarket political betting and insider trading risks

• Scam compounds in Southeast Asia - and the industrialisation of scam networks globally

• Synthetic opioid exports from India…

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In Europe, elections in Hungary and Bulgaria were accompanied by disinformation campaigns involving AI-generated content and networks of fake social media profiles.

Meanwhile in the US, the Pentagon is facing legal challenges o…

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Landmark verdict in social media addiction trial

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In the blink of an eye, AI has fundamentally changed how we use the internet. Ask ChatGPT a question, and rather than a list of links or references, you often…

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Propaganda and deception have always been features of warfare, used by those seeking to sell their version of events to gain support at home and an edge on the battlefield.

The US-Israeli war on Iran, which began on 28 February, is no exception. T…

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They offer an insight into how AI models operate, and the incentives for social media platforms to promote misinformation.

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It may not be immediately appa…

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Welcome to the 13th edition of perspicacity’s Conflict and Human Rights Update. In this edition:

➡️ The Taliban is carrying out reprisal killings of formers soldiers who worked closely with US and UK forces

➡️ The US government threatens Nigeria base…

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Welcome to Edition #11 of perspicacity’s Crime & Corruption Update. This edition features:

➡️ How companies like Meta, Google, and the world’s largest banks are used by large-scale fraud operations in Israel, Europe and the country of Georgia.

➡️ The journalists silenced in Paraguay for inve…

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Welcome to the 12th edition of perspicacity’s Conflict and Human Rights Update. This edition will give you an insight into:

➡️ Flagrant breaches of human rights at Florida’s migrant detention centres

➡️ The criminal brutality of federal anti-immigration forces in California

➡️ Aid-dependent na…

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Welcome to Edition #12 of perspicacity’s Media and Disinformation Update. This edition features:

• the criminal investigation into social media platform X by French prosecutors on allegations of its manipulation by owner Elon Musk for ‘foreign interference’

• the AI-enabled impersonation of US Sec…

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This newsletter features:

• the whitewashing of climate change research by the US government

• the circumvention of plastic recycling laws by major European countries

• the failure of social media platforms to tackle climate disinformation.

• the global consultancy companies facilitating corruption and repu…

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