Research published by the ATAFIMI project, of which Maldita.es is a partner, warns of the growing use of so-called “laughaganda” – a disinformation strategy based on humour, satire and ridicule – to reinforce pro-Russian narratives about the war in Ukraine.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, manipulated images, artificial intelligence-generated videos, deepfakes and fake images of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have circulated with the aim of undermining his credibility and creating the impression that he lacks international support.
According to the researchers, this strategy seeks to erode trust in Ukrainian institutions and leaders through humiliation and parody, rather than persuading audiences of the truthfulness of the content.
The study highlights that advances in artificial intelligence have made these campaigns increasingly sophisticated, enabling the creation of ever more convincing fake videos that are used to spread disinformation and reinforce narratives favourable to Russia.
ATAFIMI is an international project dedicated to the study and monitoring of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) and cross-border disinformation campaigns.
It brings together fact-checking organisations from across Europe – StopFake (Ukraine), Delfi (Lithuania), Myth Detector (Georgia) and Maldita.es (Spain) – to identify, analyse and track the spread of disinformation narratives. Maldita.es has also been a member of the IBERIFIER project since its inception.
