Disinformation & Influence Operations

Name: Disinformation & Influence Operations
Rating: 4.8 (7 reviews)

The Psychology of Modern Information Warfare

Created byBenedict Kioko Mwololo

Last updated 9/2025

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Identify key tactics used in disinformation and influence operations
Analyze deepfakes and synthetic media using available tools
Understand the psychological mechanisms behind manipulation
Evaluate the role of social media platforms in national security
Apply strategies to detect and counter foreign influence campaigns
Promote digital resilience in personal and professional contexts

Course content

5 sections • 25 lectures • 4h 33m total length

Course Introduction12:28
Explore disinformation and influence operations, uncover state-sponsored tactics, and master detection, analysis, and countermeasures in modern information warfare.
Lecture 1.1: What Is Information Warfare?11:32
Explore how information warfare targets the cognitive domain to influence beliefs and decisions, and differentiate misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information by intent and impact in the digital age.
Lecture 1.2: The Evolution of Influence Operations12:39
Trace the evolution of influence operations from ancient deception to digital warfare, highlighting Sun Tzu, the Cold War active measures, and modern tools like deepfakes and algorithmic amplification.
Lecture 1.3: Key Actors in Information Warfare10:55
Lecture 1.4: The Information Environment: A New Cognitive Battlefield12:39

Lecture 2.1: How Algorithms Amplify Disinformation13:34
Explore how engagement-driven design and platform algorithms amplify disinformation, fueling rapid spread and echo chambers, while examining detection techniques and mitigation strategies.
Lecture 2.2: Bots, Trolls, and Fake Accounts9:12
Explore how bots, trolls, and fake accounts drive coordinated inauthentic behavior in disinformation campaigns. Examine their tactics, detection tools, and challenges in identifying and countering influence operations, including troll farms.
Lecture 2.3: The Rise of Deepfakes and Synthetic Media10:39
Explore the rise of deep fakes and synthetic media, their technology, real-world cases, societal risks, and strategies to mitigate disinformation in the AI era.
Lecture 2.4: Detecting Deepfakes: Tools and Techniques10:16
Explore the challenges of detecting deep fakes and synthetic media, identify visual and audio red flags, and apply cutting-edge detection tools and forensic techniques taught in this lecture.
Lecture 2.5: Case Study: Deepfakes in Elections and Scams9:56
Explore how deepfake technology creates audio, video, and image fakes with AI, study the 2020 US election and 2019 UK energy farm scam, and discuss detection and defense strategies.
Lecture 2.6: Platform Moderation & Transparency Challenges10:51

Lecture 3.1: Foundations of Psychological Operations11:12
Explore the foundations of PSYOPs in the digital age, including objectives, history, and digital tactics; examine how memes, fake news, and bots shape perception and defensive inoculation strategies like pre-banking.
Lecture 3.2: Digital PSYOPs: Microtargeting and Behavioral Exploitation11:55
Explore how data-driven digital psyops use microtargeting and psychographic profiling, including the OCEAN model, to tailor messages and influence behavior globally, highlighting ethical concerns and dangers.
Lecture 3.3: Cognitive Biases and Vulnerabilities8:43
Lecture 3.4: Defensive Psychology: Building Cognitive Resilience10:46
Build cognitive resilience against manipulation by applying defensive psychology, inoculation theory, media literacy, and the practice of pausing before sharing to question sources and verify information.

Lecture 4.1: Anatomy of a Foreign Influence Operation12:13
Examine the life cycle of foreign influence campaigns—from reconnaissance to adaptation within hybrid warfare—and how content creation and amplification shape narratives while defenses counter disinformation.
Lecture 4.2: Attribution Challenges in Cyberspace9:51
Unmask cyber attack actors by blending digital forensics and geopolitical analysis to address attribution challenges, plausible deniability, and risks of public accusations, including NotPetya.
Lecture 4.3: Government and Intelligence Responses10:26
Lecture 4.4: Public-Private Partnerships & Platform Cooperation10:13
Foster public-private collaboration to counter online threats via threat intelligence sharing, coordinated takedowns, and data access, illustrated by the Facebook IRA takedown and Meta ad library case studies.

Lecture 5.1: Media Literacy and Public Education11:52
Lecture 5.2: Prebunking and Inoculation Theory10:15
Explore prebanking and inoculation theory as psychological vaccines against disinformation, examining origins, mechanisms, real-world applications, interactive tools, and future adoption to build resilience against misinformation.
Lecture 5.3: Technology Solutions for Detection & Trust11:26
Explore how technology serves as both weapon and shield in disinformation, using AI-powered detection, provenance standards like C2PA, and blockchain verification to enable trusted media.
Lecture 5.4: International Cooperation and Norms10:31
Coordinate international cooperation and establish norms to defend against disinformation worldwide. Examine multilateral initiatives, European digital regulation leadership, and evolving responses to cross-border disinformation threats.
Lecture 5.5: What You Can Do: Personal & Professional Action9:23
Empower change by adopting personal verification habits, reporting misinformation, and supporting fact-checking, while professionals uphold ethical design, media literacy, and accountability to safeguard information.
Lecture 5.6: Course Wrap-Up & The Future of Information Warfare10:25

Requirements

• No technical background is required. • Just bring your curiosity, your conscience, and your willingness to think deeply about the most urgent questions of our time.

Description

In an age where artificial intelligence can mimic voices, algorithms amplify outrage, and foreign actors target democratic processes with precision-tailored disinformation, understanding information warfare is no longer optional — it’s essential.

Welcome to this rigorous and insightful course designed for professionals, students, journalists, policymakers, and concerned citizens who want to understand how perception is weaponized in the digital age.

This course goes beyond headlines and hype. You’ll explore the strategic mechanics of modern influence campaigns — from Russian troll farms and Chinese narrative engineering to deepfakes, bot networks, and AI-driven microtargeting. We examine real-world case studies, including election interference, hybrid warfare in Ukraine, and domestic polarization fueled by coordinated inauthentic behavior.

You’ll delve into the psychology behind manipulation: cognitive biases, emotional exploitation, and the power of confirmation bias in shaping belief. Learn how social media platforms’ design fuels disinformation, and how state and non-state actors exploit human vulnerabilities at scale.

But this isn’t just about threats — it’s about defense. You’ll gain practical tools in media literacy, prebunking, content verification, and cognitive resilience. Discover how governments, tech platforms, and civil society are responding — and what you can do, personally and professionally, to strengthen truth and trust.

No technical background is required. Just bring curiosity, critical thinking, and a commitment to informed citizenship.

By the end of this course, you won’t just recognize disinformation — you’ll be equipped to resist it, respond to it, and help build a more resilient information ecosystem.

This course was designed and delivered by Brigadier (Rtd.) Benedict Kioko Mwololo, drawing on 37 years of distinguished military service, deep expertise in international relations and diplomacy, defense and security studies, and hands-on experience in global strategic analysis. His experience include leadership roles in UN peacekeeping, aviation, and defense education at the National Defence University–Kenya. To ensure structural coherence and pedagogical clarity, AI tools were used in the development phase to assist with drafting outlines and assessment questions. All content has been rigorously reviewed, fact-checked, and personalized by the instructor—anchored in verified data, field experience, and strategic analysis. No AI-generated voice, video, or unvetted material is used.

Enroll now — and become a defender of reality.

Who this course is for:

This course is benefifial to: • Cybersecurity professionals; • Journalists and media professionals; • Government and policy analysts; • Students in political science, communications, or security studies; • Social media managers and digital strategists; • General public interested in digital literacy and media manipulation.

Disinformation & Influence Operations

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction to Information Warfare5 lectures • 1hr

Social Media Manipulation & Deepfakes6 lectures • 1hr 4min

Psychological Operations (PSYOPs) in the Digital Age4 lectures • 43min

Countering Foreign Influence Campaigns4 lectures • 43min

Building Cognitive Resilience – Defending Against Influence6 lectures • 1hr 4min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: