Detecting and Tracking Adversarial Framing in Mainstream and Social Media

Framing is the use of words, phrases, images or other rhetorical devices to encourage one interpretation of a set of facts and discourage other interpretations. The research is an outgrowth of an earlier pilot project conducted with support from Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories to study Russia’s use of such tactics in the 2014 Ukraine conflict. That project showed large shifts in framing prior to the invasion of Crimea. This research extended the approach to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine  and other European conflicts to improve detection of adversary efforts, development of counter-influence campaigns, assessment of allied and adversary campaigns, and forecasting of hostility escalation.