US State Department Countering Foreign Influence with Advanced OSINT & Disinformation Detection
About
Before MEIDEFSEC’s partnership with Cyabra, the technology had already been successfully deployed in high-profile missions worldwide. One such operation involved the US State Department, which sought to identify foreign influence and adversarial social media activity during a period of heightened tension with China
Challenge
In May 2020, the US–China trade war and the global COVID-19 crisis triggered a surge of related discourse on social networks. The US State Department needed to:
Monitor narratives across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Detect foreign propaganda campaigns and fake profiles.
Understand the scale and nature of coordinated influence operations.
Solution
Cyabra’s AI-powered OSINT platform scanned over 30,000 profiles in the online conversations and uncovered:
33% of profiles were fake, actively pushing narratives to manipulate public opinion.
40% of the content was fake, including coordinated disinformation campaigns.
Direct links between official Chinese accounts and fake communities promoting targeted agendas.
The system’s advanced network mapping revealed interconnected clusters — such as Pro-Beijing campaigns, Pro-Washington content, and targeted discrediting of government criticism — giving the State Department a clear operational picture.
Result
Rapid Detection: Identification of bot networks and coordinated fake communities.
Actionable Intelligence: Direct evidence of foreign influence operations.
Operational Advantage: Clear insights to inform counter-propaganda strategies.
Expert testimony
“Cyabra has really done a great job at identifying the information and just presenting it to you in a way that you can best make a decision.”
— Vincent O'Brien, Foreign Service Officer, US State Department
