Imagine scrolling through your feed during a presidential election and coming across a headline that makes you pause. Maybe it claims a candidate has secretly done something scandalous, or that voting results have been rigged, or that a policy will destroy the country. It is alarming, and before you can double-check the facts, it has already been shared by a relative, a friend, or a public figure you follow. During the 2024 United States presidential election, this kind of scenario was not just an occasional accident. Political actors and anonymous online users deliberately and regularly spread false information as part…

On a late afternoon in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, the air is heavy with heat, dust and the low hum of generators. In the markets, people bargain over cassava and phone credit; on street corners, men argue about politics in French and Sango. It is easy to forget that this weary city has also become a frontline in an invisible war—a war over what people believe. According to a report by Anthropic, the American company behind the artificial intelligence assistant Claude, Russian agents have deliberately used that technology to spread pro-Russian influence in the country. The…