Bret Schafer

10

About Bret Schafer

Bret Schafer is a senior fellow and head of the Alliance for Securing Democracy's information manipulation team. Bret is the creator and manager of Hamilton 2.0, an online open-source dashboard tracking the outputs of Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state media outlets, diplomats, and government officials. As an expert in computational propaganda, state-backed information operations, and tech regulation, he has spoken at conferences around the globe and advised numerous governments and international organizations. His research has appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, and he has been interviewed on NPR, MSNBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and the BBC. Prior to joining GMF, he spent more than ten years in the television and film industry, including stints at Cartoon Network and as a freelance writer for Warner Brothers. He also worked in Budapest as a radio host and in Berlin as a semi-professional baseball player in Germany’s Bundesliga. He has a BS in communications with a major in radio/television/film from Northwestern University, and a master’s in public diplomacy from the University of Southern California, where he was the editor-in-chief of Public Diplomacy Magazine.

Manufacturing Controversy

The Ukrainian president’s visit to a Pennsylvania arms factory was partisan but not election interference. On September 27, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an indictment against three Iranian intelligence agents accused of running a “hac [...]

2024-10-01T16:16:46-04:00October 1, 2024|By |

ASD Election Report: September 19, 2024

This is the first in a series of reports covering online conversations related to the security and administration of the 2024 US elections. These reports are meant to highlight key narrative trends in the election space, including but not limited to [...]

2024-09-20T10:06:30-04:00September 19, 2024|By |

From Russia With Spin: How Content From Russian State Media is Laundered by Polish Blogs

Researchers from two European universities with support from ASD have uncovered evidence that a small network of Polish news blogs—Lega Artis, News na Dziś, and Daily Blitz—may serve as pathways for Russian state media and pro-Kremlin media to reach [...]

The China-Russia Nexus of Disinformation

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 10:00 - 11:00am ET 1600 - 1700 CET   In the two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Russia’s and the People’s Republic of China’s use of disinformation has increased along with Moscow and Beijin [...]

2024-08-22T10:40:03-04:00February 16, 2024|By and |

What to Watch: ASD at GMF Experts Weigh in on the 2024 US Presidential Primaries

This year’s US presidential primaries will determine who will lead the country come January 2025 amid growing autocratic threats to American democracy. Experts from the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund are monitoring and a [...]

Our Experts’ 2023 Policy Wish List to Strengthen Democracy

At the start of the new year, we asked our experts to each put forth one recommendation that would strengthen democracy during a period of declining trust, emboldened autocrats, and war. Their answers touch on a variety of issues—from the war in Ukr [...]

What to Watch: ASD at GMF Experts Weigh in on US 2022 Midterms

Tomorrow’s midterm elections will be a benchmark for the state of American democracy. As early voting surges, people around the country (and the world) are watching to see what happens in what is perhaps the most important midterm election in recent [...]

Go to Top