The coronavirus pandemic is creating an opportunity for foreign actors who seek to undermine Western democracies to advance their goals. From weekly reports that track messaging from Russian and Chinese state-backed media and diplomatic actors, to pieces that analyze the geopolitical impact of crisis, ASD’s work on coronavirus can be found here.
Q&A with David Levine: What Can We Learn from the June 2 Primaries?
On Tuesday, June 2, 2020, eight states and the District of Columbia held primary elections—the largest number of states to hold elections since the coronavirus pandemic necessitated changes to some states’ planned primaries and voting procedures. In [...]
Nad’a Kovalcikova Joins Globsec to Discuss Push and Pull Factors of the COVID-19 Infodemic
Fellow and Program Manager Nad'a Kovalcikova joined Globsec for a webinar discussion entitled "COVID-19 Infodemic: Push and Pull Factors." As the coronavirus pandemic starts to retreat and countries are starting to open their economies, false stori [...]
Strong Yet Brittle: The Risks of Digital Authoritarianism
Introduction Authoritarian governments increasingly adopt technology-centric national strategies and methods of internal governance. They control their societies through digital censorship, propaganda, and surveillance, and use these same tools to [...]
Laura Rosenberger Talks 2020 Election Security on ‘Intelligence Matters’
In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with ASD Director Laura Rosenberger. Rosenberger details the breadth of foreign interference threats the U.S. faces ahead of the 2020 presidential election from known actors like Ru [...]
Nad’a Kovalcikova Talks the Coronavirus Infodemic in Europe with Euranet Plus
Disinformation is on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic. The EU is fighting back, and tech companies are clamping down. But will moves to censor content just fuel the conspiratorial fire? “Global health crises are one of the common examples w [...]
Hamilton Weekly Report: May 16-22, 2020
Russia Toplines The coronavirus remained the most dominant topic for the Russian media ecosystem last week, with no change in the amount of coverage from the previous week. In non-coronavirus coverage, two other topics of interest emerged: messaging [...]
Bret Schafer Talks China’s Coronavirus Social Media Offensive on Newsy
Digital Media and Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer spoke to Newsy about how China is using social media to push thousands of messages intended to undermine the U.S.' handling of the coronavirus pandemic. "There has been an explosion of Chinese di [...]
COVID19 Disinformation and the Global Battle of Narratives: A U.S. and EU Perspective
Naja Bentzen, an analyst at European Parliamentary Research Service, and Sophie in't Veld, member of the European Parliament and chair of the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, joined ASD Director Laura Rosenberger for a [...]
Bret Schafer on Beijing’s Twitter Offensive in the Coronavirus ‘Info War’ on NBC News
Digital Media and Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer spoke to NBC News about Beijing's Twitter offensive during the coronavirus pandemic. China has launched a Twitter offensive in the coronavirus information war, more than doubling its number of of [...]
Nad’a Kovalcikova Discusses European Responses to the Coronavirus Pandemic with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
Fellow and Program Manager Nad'a Kovalcikova joined the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for a discussion on European responses to the coronavirus pandemic. The discussion focused on national responses to COVID-19 pandemic and challenges the crisis has [...]
20 for 20: 20 Ways to Protect the 2020 Presidential Election
ASD’s Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine and the Bipartisan Policy Center's Director of the Election Project Matthew Weil identify 20 ways states could further protect the 2020 presidential election with additional funding. Introduction At t [...]
Jessica Brandt on Beijing’s Adoption of the Kremlin’s Disinformation Playbook for Brookings
ASD Head of Policy and Research Jessica Brandt and Brookings Non-Resident Fellow Torrey Taussig argue that throughout the coronavirus pandemic, China has carried out a striking disinformation campaign that borrows a few pages from the Kremlin’s play [...]