# Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) Incidents and Digital Democracy Dataset (2020–2025)

## Overview

This dataset was developed to support Chapter 8 in Deliverable 2.1 titled 'Interdisciplinary Knowledge Base on Digital Democracy' for Horizon Europe project INNOVADE. The dataset documents confirmed and well-documented cases of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) that took place between 2020 and 2025, primarily targeting digital democratic systems in Europe. Each row represents a single FIMI case in which digital tools were used to disrupt, manipulate, or undermine democratic processes, media ecosystems, public trust, or electoral integrity.

## Contents

- `FIMI_Cases_DigitalDemocracy_2020-2025.csv`: Main dataset
- Variables and Possible Corresponding  Values
  - Case Name: TEXT STRING
  - YEAR: YEAR
  - YEAR START: YEAR
  - YEAR END: YEAR
  - Is Ongoing: BOOLEAN (TRUE/FALSE)
  - Digital Disinformation and Manipulated Content: BOOLEAN (TRUE/FALSE)
  - Cyber-Enabled Information Operations: BOOLEAN (TRUE/FALSE)	
  - Social Media and Platform Exploitation: BOOLEAN (TRUE/FALSE)	
  - Digital Psychological Operations: BOOLEAN (TRUE/FALSE)
  - Strategic Objective: One of the following TEXT STRINGS - Undermining Digital Democratic Processes, Destabilizing Public Trust in Digital Information Ecosystems, Strategic Geopolitical Influence in the Digital Domain
  - Actors Involved: One or both of the following TEXT STRINGS - State-Sponsored Digital Influence Operations, Non-State Digital Proxies
  - Perpetrating Country: COUNTRY 
  - Target Audience/Platform: One or more of the following TEXT STRINGS - Social Media and User-Generated Content Platforms, Search Engines and AI-Driven Digital Spaces, Video Platforms and Streaming Services, Digital Financial Tools for Manipulation
  - Geographic Scope: One or more of the following TEXT STRINGS - Localized Digital Attacks, Regional Digital Conflicts, Global Strategic Digital Influence
  - Target Country/Location: COUNTRY or REGION
  - Description: TEXT STRING 
  - Only one of the following may be true for each case: 
   - Information: BOOLEAN (TRUE/FALSE)
   - Communication: BOOLEAN (TRUE/FALSE)
   - Co-Production: - BOOLEAN (TRUE/FALSE)


- Digital Tactic Clusters:

    - Digital Disinformation and Manipulated Content: The use of fabricated narratives and  synthetic media (AI-generated content, deepfakes, etc.) to distort facts and deceive audiences. 

    - Cyber-Enabled Information Operations: The use of cyberattacks, hacking, data manipulation, and bot networks to access or alter proprietary information for malign purposes such data leaks, DDoS attacks, etc.

    - Social Media and Platform Exploitation: The use of inauthentic behavior, influencer manipulation, hashtag hijacking, and trend manipulation on social and digital platforms to shape online discourse such as bots, paid or coerced influencers, and viral tactics.

    - Digital Psychological Operations: Uses a combination of the three other tactics in coordinated campaigns, exploiting emotional, societal, or identity-based vulnerabilities to influence public perception and behavior such as fear-mongering during crises, deepening polarization, impersonating civic groups, and fabricating grassroots movements.

- Levels of Digital Democracy 

    - Information: Refers to the production, distribution, and accessibility of political content, including reading news, public reports, e-information, or browsing institutional communications. Foreign interference distorts reality by injecting disinformation, obscuring facts, or crowding out legitimate content, compromising the public’s ability to reason critically.

    - Communication: Covers the discursive interactions that shape collective political understanding, including interpersonal dialogue, social media discussion, e-campaigning, online mobilisation, and e-deliberation. Foreign interference may hijack or distort discourse, manipulate visibility, amplify divisive content, or simulate grassroots support for strategic aims.

    - Co-production: Represents the transformation of discourse into tangible political decisions through digital participatory mechanisms, such as e-consultation platforms, participatory budgeting tools, and e-voting systems. FIMI seeks to disrupt or delegitimise decision-making by manipulating participatory signals, exploiting technical vulnerabilities, or eroding trust in digital democratic systems.

## Data Sources

Cases were compiled from a triangulated review of publicly available materials, such as:

1. Official institutional reports, such as those from:
   - European External Action Service (EEAS)  
   - NATO StratCom COE  
   - FIMI-ISAC briefings  
   - National entities (e.g., VIGINUM – France)

2. Academic and think tank publications, such as:
   - EU DisinfoLab  
   - Hybrid CoE  
   - Selected peer-reviewed journal articles

3. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) and corporate investigations, such as:
   - Meta quarterly threat reports  
   - Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC)  
   - Independent media monitoring organizations

## Suggested Citation

```
Metivier, Derek, and Fatih Yilmaz. 2025. “Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) Dataset (2020–2025).” Beyond the Horizon ISSG. Zenodo. 10.5281/zenodo.16888784
```

## License

This dataset is made available under the **Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.  
You are free to:

- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format  
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material  

**Under the following terms:**

- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.  
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.  

See the full license here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

## Contact

For questions or feedback, contact the authors:  
Derek Metivier or Fatih Yilmaz
Email: derek.metivier@behorizon.org, fatih.yilmaz@behorizon.org

Organization: Beyond the Horizon ISSG
Funded by the European Union