FitzGerald, K. M., Whelan-Shamy, D., & Graham, T. (2025). The persistence of informational manipulation and the appropriation of emerging events. Authoritarian Actors and Strategic Digital Information Operations, 65–85. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003628088-6
Summary
This paper examines how coordinated informational manipulation campaigns persist over time by adapting to and appropriating emerging events. Rather than treating influence operations as discrete, short-lived bursts, the authors frame them as ongoing, opportunistic enterprises that maintain relevance by latching onto new crises, controversies, and news cycles. The central argument is that persistence itself is a strategic property of manipulation campaigns, achieved through the continual appropriation of whatever is salient in the public information environment.
Key Contributions
- Reframes informational manipulation as a durable, adaptive phenomenon rather than a series of isolated campaigns.
- Highlights the appropriation of emerging events as a core mechanism through which manipulation operations sustain attention and influence.
- Provides a conceptual vocabulary for analyzing the longevity and opportunism of coordinated influence efforts.
Methods
Not specified in the available abstract.
Findings
- Manipulation campaigns persist over extended timeframes rather than dissipating after their initial deployment.
- Persistence is achieved by appropriating emerging events, allowing campaigns to remain topically relevant and continue accumulating engagement.
Connections
This work fits within an active strand of research on coordinated inauthentic behavior that emphasizes temporal dynamics and cross-event continuity, connecting to the Giglietto et al. program on coordinated link sharing and its persistence (Giglietto2020-9d8acdd7, Giglietto2022-0e951ac5, Giglietto2023-fa71a001, Giglietto2026-9b6a992d, Giglietto2026-632ef967). It also speaks to studies of how influence operations exploit crisis and event contexts (Starbird2025-jj, Kuznetsova2025-nu) and to longitudinal accounts of campaign behavior on platforms (Luceri2025-tr, Graham2026-fb, Graham2025-gp).
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