Our Takes Last week, the Trump administration announced it would close the Foreign Malign Influence Center, the last remaining US federal organ dedicated to tracking and analyzing foreign interference targeting US institutions, elections, and socie [...]
Reactions to the News Gabbard to dissolve Foreign Malign Influence Center: US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard plans to dissolve the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC)—an intelligence agency that analyzes and counters foreign inf [...]
Our Takes RT’s and Sputnik’s English-language accounts largely supported US President Donald Trump’s immigration and border policies, casting migrants as “dangerous” and characterizing the crackdown as a necessity. Their Spanish-language counterpar [...]
Since his first day returning to office, US President Donald Trump has pushed forward on campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration and secure the southern US border. Trump’s tough stance on immigration has been contentious among America [...]
Announcements Research on information operations rarely extends beyond single-language textual analysis, neglecting “the critical role visuals play in spreading influence.” ASD’s Information Laundromat now contains an automated reverse image detect [...]
Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: EU Sanctions: Russian officials and state media criticized new EU and UK sanctions against Russia and called into question their effectiveness. Russia [...]
Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: US-Russia Tensions: Russian officials and state media criticized or downplayed US President Donald Trump’s decision to supply more weapons to Ukraine [...]
Our Takes Though foreign and domestic actors exploited societal divisions during Germany’s federal election campaign earlier this year, Kremlin-linked information operations integrated content generated by artificial intelligence (AI), bot networks [...]
Our Takes In an analysis of RT and Sputnik posts on Telegram and X in 2024, ASD found 308 links to mirror websites, podcasts, or proxy accounts that allowed them to circumvent EU bans and continue reaching European audiences. “A complete ban is imp [...]
Dubbing it “Operation Rising Lion”, Israel has launched widespread airstrikes across Iran, hitting key nuclear facilities and killing several military commanders and intensifying decades of hostilities between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Given Iran’s long- [...]
Announcements As devastating wildfires wreaked havoc in Los Angeles earlier this year, the Kremlin leveraged the tragedy to sow division and undermine trust in relief efforts. ASD Senior Fellow Bret Schafer and Los Angeles World Affairs Council &am [...]
ASD researchers Krystyna Sikora and Peter Benzoni told Factchequeado how Russian messaging differed depending on whether the Kremlin wrote in English or Spanish in response to protests in Los Angeles, California about US President Donald Trump's imm [...]
Since the protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles began last weekend, false and misleading information about the demonstrations and the Trump administration’s crackdown have proliferated online. Though partisan actors have driven many of the [...]
Announcements Next Wednesday, June 11 and Thursday, June 12, GMF will host the 20th annual Brussels Forum. ASD’s Managing Director, David Salvo, will moderate two discussions, one about the future of American democracy and another about the challen [...]
Announcements Rapid technological change places new pressures on democracies, but the speed of innovation offers opportunities to build democratic values into new systems. GMF Technology will explore this topic in an online event moderated by ASD V [...]
Poland was one of the first countries to take steps to curb Russian propaganda in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Days after the invasion, Poland’s broadcasting regulator banned five Russian outlets—including RT and Sputnik—on c [...]
Announcements US foreign adversaries have targeted American communities far beyond the Beltway with information manipulation. Join ASD and World Affairs Council of Charlotte for an in-person discussion on how this impacts communities in North Carol [...]
Announcements US foreign adversaries have targeted American communities far beyond the Beltway with information manipulation. Join ASD and World Affairs Council of Charlotte for an in-person discussion on how this impacts communities in North Carol [...]
Announcements Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the information ecosystem, but it is also being weaponized by authoritarian actors to undermine democracy. Register here to join ASD and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy for an in-p [...]
Announcements ASD at GMF has joined Bluesky! Follow us @securedemocracy.bsky.social. Our Takes The Trump administration’s attempts to shut down Voice of America and other US-funded outlets offer “greater opportunity for Washington’s adversaries t [...]
Announcements ASD at GMF has joined Bluesky! Follow us @securedemocracy.bsky.social. Hamilton 2.0 Analysis Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: Trump’s Tariffs: Russian state media speculated about the US-Pe [...]
Announcements ASD at GMF has joined Bluesky! Follow us @securedemocracy.bsky.social. Our Takes The Venezuelan state-owned outlet TeleSUR “serves as a vehicle” to advance Caracas’ influence and that of its authoritarian allies—including Russia, Ch [...]
Announcements ASD at GMF is hiring! Applications are open for our Washington, DC-based research traineeship for Summer 2025. Apply here. Our Takes “Ukraine has demonstrated in the starkest terms that modern warfare is fought on the battlefield an [...]
Announcements ASD at GMF is hiring! Applications are open for our Washington, DC-based research traineeship for Summer 2025. Apply here. Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow Vassilis Ntousas moderated a GMF discussion about how the EU should respon [...]
Announcements With foreign information manipulation and interference posing a growing threat to democracies worldwide, how should the EU adapt? ASD Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow Vassilis Ntousas will moderate GMF’s virtual discussion on this [...]
Our Takes Belgian authorities’ recent raid of more than 20 addresses, including Huawei’s Brussels offices, as part of an investigation into alleged bribery of members of the European Parliament could bring more European leaders to recognize Huawei’ [...]
Announcements ASD has updated its Authoritarian Interference Tracker to include a sixth vector of Russia’s and the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) interference in democracies: kinetic operations. ASD defines kinetic operations as “the deliberate [...]
Our Takes US Vice President JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference strengthened Europe’s perception that the United States has begun meddling in its internal politics, which could “drive a wedge” of a magnitude greater than during prev [...]
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 [...]