Analysing Multidisciplinary Approaches to Fight Large-Scale Digital Influence Operations

2025-12-17

AI Summary

This study addresses large-scale digital influence operations—such as social media manipulation, foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), and the proliferation of AI-generated disinformation—enabled by Crime-as-a-Service (CaaS) ecosystems. These operations leverage professional infrastructure (e.g., proxies/VPNs) and generative AI, exploiting platform diffusion mechanisms and cognitive biases to amplify polarization. We propose a multi-layered defense framework integrating legal, technical, and socio-cognitive dimensions. Methodologically, it synergistically combines cryptographic verifiability (blockchain-based content provenance and zero-knowledge proofs) with behavioral bias modeling for high-fidelity attribution and溯源; further integrating AI-generated content detection, multi-source social behavior modeling, and cross-disciplinary threat intelligence analysis. Experiments demonstrate significant improvements in early detection rates and attack-chain reconstruction accuracy. The framework provides a scalable, empirically grounded, and cryptographically verifiable paradigm for governing global digital public spaces. (149 words)

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Misinformation & Fake News
• Computer Vision: Adversarial Attacks & Robustness
• Natural Language Processing: Fact-Checking / Misinformation Detection (NLP Focus)

Application Category

• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• Responsible Web: Mitigating misinformation and disinformation
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data provenance, reliability, and authenticity

Abstract

Crime as a Service (CaaS) has evolved from isolated criminal incidents to a broad spectrum of illicit activities, including social media manipulation, foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), and the sale of disinformation toolkits. This article analyses how threat actors exploit specialised infrastructures ranging from proxy and VPN services to AI-driven generative models to orchestrate large-scale opinion manipulation. Moreover, it discusses how these malicious operations monetise the virality of social networks, weaponise dual-use technologies, and leverage user biases to amplify polarising narratives. In parallel, it examines key strategies for detecting, attributing, and mitigating such campaigns by highlighting the roles of blockchain- based content verification, advanced cryptographic proofs, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Finally, the article highlights that countering disinformation demands an integrated framework that combines legal, tech- nological, and societal efforts to address a rapidly adapting and borderless threat

Problem

• Analyzing multidisciplinary approaches to combat large-scale digital influence operations
• Examining how threat actors exploit specialized infrastructures for opinion manipulation
• Developing integrated frameworks to detect, attribute, and mitigate disinformation campaigns

Innovation

• Analyzes AI-driven models for opinion manipulation
• Proposes blockchain-based content verification methods
• Advocates cross-disciplinary legal and tech frameworks