Authoritarian regimes and their proxies use social media, other online information platforms, and traditional media to attempt to shape global and domestic narratives; to sow chaos and confusion in democracies; and to undermine democratic processes. Find ASD’s work on the many ways malign actors manipulate information to interfere in democracies, including by spreading disinformation, on this page.
Keep the US Government Focused on Combating Foreign Interference Operations
The US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) detailed charges against Iranian operatives involved in the plot to assassinate Donald Trump during the recent presidential campaign should dispel any skepticism about US national security threats emanating from [...]
Interference Interrupted: The US Government’s Strides Defending Against Foreign Threats to the 2024 Election
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 [...]
The Moldovan Testing Ground? What the United States Can Learn from Russian Interference in Moldova
The Kremlin is known for testing disinformation strategies in its “backyard” before applying them globally. Last week in Moldova, the presidential election and constitutional referendum on EU membership presented Russia with such an opportunity. Rus [...]
Bret Schafer Interviewed on CNN about the Evolving Information Space Around the US Election
Senior Fellow Bret Schafer joined CNN to discuss the evolving information space around the 2024 US election, including false, manipulated videos of alleged election irregularities which have been traced back to Russian threat actors. watch here [...]
RT’s End Around: RT’s Content Launderers Persist Despite Increased Attention and Restrictions
In May, ASD, along with our partners at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA), published a report documenting roughly 400 domains that had published identical or nearly identical copies of articles original [...]
ASD and GMF Tech Release Report on How US Candidates Campaign Using TikTok
Two years on from the 2022 US midterm elections, TikTok continues to serve as a platform candidates use to try to reach voters. According to a new report from the Technology Program and the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund [...]
Influence with Integrity: Protect Yourself and Your Audience During Election Season
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 [...]
Democracy Divided: How Republicans and Democrats Talk About Threats to Democracy
In the polarized political landscape of the United States, few words carry as much weight or evoke as much passion as “democracy”. As the cornerstone of American political identity, democracy is both revered and contested by citizens across the ideo [...]
The Frontlines of Election Falsehoods: Election Administration Narratives in Battleground States
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 [...]
ASD and the McCain Institute Hold Discussion on AI and a Complex Information Space ahead of the 2024 US Election
Generative AI programs can be used to churn out content parroting false narratives within seconds and produce sophisticated fake images, videos, and audio that are increasingly indistinguishable from authentic material. The widespread accessibility [...]
Rachael Dean Wilson in GMF: The Defining Challenge of the 2024 US Elections: Navigating the Information Space
The complexities of the information space are eroding trust in election processes, Co-Managing Director Rachael Dean Wilson writes at GMF. read more here The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the author alone. [...]
Peter Benzoni quoted in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Russian Online Information Campaign in the Balkans
Investigative Data and Research Analyst Peter Benzoni spoke to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty about a recent Russian online information campaign in the Balkans. read more here The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views [...]