Beyond Operation Doppelgänger: A Capability Assessment of the Social Design Agency

In this report from the Psychological Defence Research Institute at Lund University, researchers have, based on leaked documents, studied Russian malign information influence through the Doppelgänger campaign. They have also analysed the capabilities of one of the main actors behind it – the Social Design Agency (SDA).

In 2022, a comprehensive and coordinated influence campaign was launched by Russian actors aimed at weakening international support for Ukraine, promoting pro-Russian narratives and sowing mistrust in Western democracies through the so-called Doppelgänger campaign. The campaign used fake websites resembling those of established news media. Behind the campaign were organisations with close ties to the Russian state, including the Social Design Agency (SDA).

The report provides an initial detailed picture of the SDA’s work and capabilities based on more than 3,000 leaked documents. The SDA is one of the actors in the state-sponsored and long-term information war by Russia on the West, and the report describes internal communication, methods, funding and overall objectives for the SDA’s work and its peripheral networks. The report notes that the impact of SDA’s Doppelgänger campaign has been overestimated and that countermeasures have not had intended effects; rather, the SDA has managed to exploit them to strengthen its position as an actor in the information war.

Based on the experience gained in their work, the authors present a number of recommendations for how democracies can strengthen their capabilities for counteracting malign information influence.

The report was written by researchers James Pamment and Darejan Tsurtsumia at the Psychological Defence Research Institute at Lund University.