Our Takes US foreign adversaries understand that state and local communities are foundational to the strength of American democracy and are increasingly targeting Americans with information manipulation closer to where they live. Research Assistant [...]
Introduction It is easy to dismiss foreign information operations as playing out at the national level, designed to influence federal policymakers and Beltway insiders. But these threats transcend the “Beltway Bubble”. Increasingly, foreign nation [...]
Our Takes Russian and the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) diplomats and state media leveraged US President Donald Trump’s statements about the Panama Canal to reinforce their longstanding narratives about the international order, including throu [...]
Our Takes Regardless of who occupies the White House, Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) still see the United States as the world’s hegemon and have “a vested interest in pushing back” against Washington worldwide, Co-Managing Director [...]
Our Takes The second Trump administration finds a Kremlin that is unlikely to reach a quick deal over Ukraine or cease its malign behavior, even if offered US concessions. Co-Managing Director David Salvo offers five recommendations to guide Washin [...]
Our Takes Russian state-affiliated accounts have leveraged the destructive wildfires in Los Angeles to sow division, undermine trust in relief efforts, and question support for Ukraine, even amplifying a misleading image generated by artificial int [...]
Last week, devastating wildfires ignited across Los Angeles County in what is one of the most destructive natural disasters in US history. But as firefighters continue to battle the flames, false and misleading information about the disaster has spr [...]
Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: Halt of Russian Natural Gas in Europe: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Maria Zakharova declared that responsibility for halting Russi [...]
Announcements This is the Dispatch’s final edition of 2024. We will resume our usual publishing schedule on Thursday, January 9, 2025. Happy holidays to all our readers! Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main [...]
Our Takes Especially after Iran targeted US President-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 election cycle, his incoming administration should build on existing US government work to counter foreign interference in the United States, including by maintain [...]
Announcements Co-Managing Director David Salvo moderated a panel on democratic resilience at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s 70th Annual Session in Montreal. Read about the conclusions agreed at the summit here! Our Takes The chief task for str [...]
Announcements The Securing Democracy Dispatch will take a break next week to celebrate Thanksgiving! We will resume the following week. Come work with us! ASD is hiring a Washington, DC-based research trainee for Spring 2025. Learn more and apply h [...]
This year’s US election cycle was marked by increasingly brazen attempts by foreign actors to interfere and influence voters. Iran orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump and successfully accessed documents fr [...]
Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: Nuclear Threat: Russian state media escalated its nuclear warmongering, following several public statements from government officials and national sec [...]
Our Takes Leading up to Election Day, Russian influence campaigns shifted from targeting candidates or policies to eroding Americans’ “trust of the actual administration” of the elections, recognizing confidence around the process as a “real fault [...]
Announcements From potential false narratives that erode faith in US election integrity to the role of the US intelligence community to the possible memes that could shape online discussion, ASD at GMF experts share what they are watching closely a [...]
Americans vote in this year’s consequential presidential election in an environment marked by growing threats, including the weaponization of artificial intelligence, influence campaigns run by foreign authoritarian adversaries, and false election n [...]
Influencers and content creators play a critical role in today’s information environment as opinion makers and trusted voices. As a result, influencers and their online communities have become targets for malign actors seeking to undermine confidenc [...]
The decentralized nature of election administration in the United States means that every state—and even election jurisdiction—has its own rules for voting and ballot counting. In 2020, variances in election procedures were misconstrued, and in some [...]
Announcements ASD and the McCain Institute held an event last Thursday about artificial intelligence (AI) and elections last week in Phoenix, featuring remarks from Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates, an [...]
Announcements ASD is going to Phoenix, Arizona! ASD and the McCain Institute will hold a conversation about artificial intelligence’s impact on the 2024 US elections, featuring Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Maricopa County Supervisor [...]
Announcements ASD is going to Phoenix, Arizona! ASD and the McCain Institute will hold a conversation about artificial intelligence’s (AI) impact on the 2024 US elections, featuring Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Maricopa County Super [...]
Announcements ASD is going to Phoenix, Arizona! ASD and the McCain Institute will hold a conversation about artificial intelligence’s (AI) impact on the 2024 US elections, featuring Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Maricopa County Super [...]
Our Takes Meta and other social media companies’ bans on Russian state media likely do not stop their hardcore followers from accessing their content, but hurts RT’s “ability to span platforms, to reach new audiences” that “are not actively seeking [...]
Announcements ASD’s Co-Managing Director Rachael Dean Wilson and Senior Fellow Bret Schafer will join World Affairs Council Pittsburgh for an in-person discussion of threats to the 2024 US presidential election and lessons in resilience from around [...]
Announcements ASD’s Co-Managing Director Rachael Dean Wilson and Senior Fellow Bret Schafer will join World Affairs Council Pittsburgh for an in-person discussion of threats to the 2024 US presidential election and lessons in resilience from around [...]
On September 4, 2024, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) seized 32 website domains connected to Russia’s “Doppelganger” network and charged two Russian state media employees with funneling almost $10 million to a Tennessee-based online content creat [...]
Announcements ASD’s Co-Managing Director Rachael Dean Wilson and Senior Fellow Bret Schafer will join World Affairs Council Pittsburgh for an in-person discussion of threats to the 2024 US presidential election and lessons learned from around the w [...]
Announcements The Securing Democracy Dispatch will take a hiatus through August. We will resume in early September! We are hiring! Applications are open for ASD at GMF’s Washington, DC-based research traineeship for Fall 2024. Apply here. Our Take [...]
Announcements We are hiring! Applications are open for ASD at GMF’s Washington, DC-based research traineeship for Fall 2024! Apply here. Our Takes Russia’s recent campaign of sabotage and, in some cases, violence on the European continent signal [...]
Our Takes After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Russia floated conspiracy theories about Ukrainian involvement, Iran amplified false narratives from the American left and right alike, but the PRC engaged in limited cov [...]
Introduction In the days after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a torrent of false and misleading information about the attack flooded social media. While the majority of these claims see [...]
Announcements GMF condemns political violence and the attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump last weekend. Read GMF President Heather Conley’s statement here. Our Takes The attempted assassination of Trump prompted a deluge o [...]
Announcements Come work with ASD! We are looking for a Program Coordinator and an Open Source Intelligence Analyst, both based in Washington, DC. Apply here! Check out GMF’s coverage of NATO’s 75th anniversary Summit and Public Forum! Find expert i [...]
Announcements The Securing Democracy Dispatch will take a break next week to celebrate the Fourth of July. We will resume the following week. Come work with ASD! We are looking for a Program Coordinator and an Open Source Intelligence Analyst, both [...]
Our Takes “Elections are human-run endeavors and they are imperfect. But the goal is to catch the mistakes quickly and correct them quickly”, Co-Managing Director Rachael Dean Wilson said on FOX 5 Washington DC. The European Parliament election res [...]
Announcements ASD and the Cyber Collective announced a partnership to strengthen global cybersecurity and protect democracy! We aim to bring research-backed, expert-verified information to the top of everyday internet users’ algorithms. Read more h [...]
Announcements Today, ASD at GMF, the University of Amsterdam (UvA), and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) released the Information Laundromat, an open-source tool to find content and metadata similarities between websites. In a new report [...]
Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: Threats to Zelenskyy: Russian officials last week claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “no longer has the right to represent Ukraine i [...]
Announcements ASD would like your feedback! Please fill out our survey about ASD’s work and publications. (Estimated time to complete: one minute or less) Our Takes This week’s US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing showed bipartisan concern ov [...]