Graphika

Graphika is an American social-network analysis and media-intelligence company established in 2013 by John Kelly, a computational social scientist. Based in New York, the company studies how online communities form, communicate, and coordinate across social platforms. Its work is particularly associated with the identification and analysis of influence operations, disinformation networks, fake-account clusters, and other forms of coordinated online manipulation. The company uses artificial-intelligence and network-analysis techniques to map digital communities and examine relationships among accounts, content, narratives, and distribution channels. Rather than treating individual posts as isolated items, Graphika’s approach focuses on the structure of online ecosystems: which accounts amplify one another, how narratives move between communities, and whether activity appears to be centrally coordinated or organically produced. Its analyses have been used to help identify activity linked to state-backed or politically motivated influence operations. Graphika became publicly known through research concerning Russian influence activity around U.S. elections. Its work identified and characterized networks associated with the Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll organization, in connection with influence efforts aimed at voters during the 2016 and 2020 United States presidential elections, as well as activity related to the 2022 U.S. elections. The company has also reported on Chinese-linked operations, including networks of apparently inauthentic accounts that promoted misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines in 2020 and synthetic or deepfake news presenters used to promote pro-China messaging in 2023. Its research scope extends beyond the United States. In 2023, Graphika reported on an influence operation directed at voters in Taiwan ahead of the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election. In 2024, it traced the generation and circulation of sexually explicit deepfake images depicting Taylor Swift to an online community associated with 4chan, illustrating the company’s broader interest in synthetic media, platform abuse, and the mechanics of viral content distribution. Graphika works with major technology and social-media companies, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter, and has described its role as providing intelligence and analytical findings that allow those organizations to make their own strategic and enforcement decisions. Its services sit at the intersection of computational social science, cybersecurity intelligence, trust and safety, platform governance, and political-risk analysis. Graphika is therefore positioned less as a consumer-facing media brand than as a specialist research and professional-services firm whose reports are used by technology companies, policymakers, journalists, and researchers examining online information threats.

Graphika was established in 2013 by John Kelly, a computational social scientist with a doctorate from Columbia University. The company was founded to apply computational methods to the study of social networks and online communities. Its research model emphasizes relationships among accounts and communities rather than only the text or images contained in individual posts. By mapping interaction patterns, account clusters, and the movement of narratives, Graphika seeks to distinguish ordinary online discussion from coordinated manipulation. The company’s public profile grew through research into election-related influence operations. Graphika identified activity associated with the Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll organization, in connection with efforts targeting U.S. voters during the 2016 presidential election. It subsequently examined related or comparable activity around the 2020 election and the 2022 U.S. elections. These investigations helped establish Graphika as a specialist source for analysis of state-linked online influence and coordinated disinformation. Graphika’s work also covered health misinformation and international information operations. In 2020, it reported on a network of apparently fake social-media accounts promoting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and linked the operation to Chinese interests. The company later investigated synthetic media, including deepfake news presenters used to distribute pro-China propaganda in 2023. That work reflected a widening research focus from conventional troll accounts and coordinated posting toward artificial or manipulated audiovisual content. The company has operated internationally while maintaining its base in New York. In 2023, Graphika identified an influence operation aimed at voters in Taiwan before the 2024 presidential election. In 2024, it investigated explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift and traced their production to a 4chan-associated community. This case demonstrated the applicability of Graphika’s methods to non-electoral harms involving generative media, platform communities, and rapid viral distribution. Graphika has worked with major technology companies, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter. It has described its function in those relationships as supplying intelligence and analytical information so that partner organizations can make their own decisions about strategy, moderation, and responses to online threats. The company’s broader role is situated among social-network intelligence, platform trust and safety, cybersecurity research, political-risk analysis, and the study of information disorder.

• 2024

  Taylor Swift deepfake investigation

  [1]Graphikaen.wikipedia.org

  Graphika traced explicit deepfake images depicting Taylor Swift to a 4chan-associated online community.

• 2023

  Taiwan election influence operation reported

  [1]Graphikaen.wikipedia.org

  The company identified an influence operation aimed at voters ahead of Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election.

• 2020

  COVID-19 vaccine misinformation network identified

  [1]Graphikaen.wikipedia.org

  Graphika reported on a Chinese-linked network of fake accounts promoting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

• 2016

  Research on Russian election influence

  [1]Graphikaen.wikipedia.org

  Graphika identified and analyzed Internet Research Agency activity targeting U.S. voters during the 2016 presidential election.

• 2013

  Graphika is established

  [1]Graphikaen.wikipedia.org

  John Kelly founded Graphika as a company focused on computational analysis of social networks and online communities.

A specialist intelligence and research firm that applies computational social science, artificial intelligence, and network analysis to understand online communities, disinformation, coordinated influence operations, and emerging synthetic-media threats.

• Research and intelligence service

  Social-network analysis

  Graphika analyzes the structure of online communities by examining relationships among accounts, groups, narratives, and distribution channels. The service is intended to reveal coordinated behavior and explain how information moves through digital networks.

• Threat intelligence and research

  Influence-operation investigations

  These investigations examine suspected state-linked or politically motivated operations, including fake accounts, coordinated posting, narrative amplification, and cross-platform activity. Findings are presented as intelligence for institutional and technology-sector decision-makers.

• Media-forensics research

  Synthetic-media analysis

  Graphika researches deepfakes and other synthetic or manipulated media, including the communities that create, distribute, and amplify such material. Its work covers both propaganda-related content and non-consensual or abusive deepfake imagery.

1. 1Graphikaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Graphika official websitegraphika.com