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.
Hamilton Toplines: May 10-16, 2021
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a major story for Russian state media last week, with #Palestine the most frequently used topical hashtag by Russia’s Twitter accounts tracked on Hamilton, and Israel tied with Russia for the most-mentioned count [...]
Bret Schafer Discusses Russia’s Covid-19 Vaccine Disinformation on ‘The Inoculation’
Media and Digital Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer joined "The Inoculation" to discuss Russia's disinformation and mal-information campaign around Western Covid-19 vaccines. Bret, the hosts, and other guests take a look at how the Russian governm [...]
Maurice Turner Talks the Future of Democracy with USC
In this episode of the Election Cybersecurity Initiative Podcast, host Adam Clayton Powell III speaks with Maurice Turner, Cybersecurity Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. They discuss the latest developments in cybersecurity such as Ar [...]
Hamilton Toplines: May 3-9, 2021
Russian state media predictably used the Facebook Oversight Board’s ruling to uphold the company’s previous decision to ban former President Trump from the platform to advance its usual Big Tech censorship narrative and amplify Trump’s anti-Big Tech [...]
Introducing the German Election Dashboard
On May 11, ASD Media and Digital Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer presented the new German Election Dashboard at a GMF Berlin event. The Dashboard is an interactive, open-source tool that allows users to track messaging from influential foreign an [...]
Introducing the 2021 German Elections Project
Germany’s federal election in September this year will mark a critical change not only for Germany but for Europe as a whole. Chancellor Angela Merkel has led Europe’s largest country and economic powerhouse since 2005, long before the specter of th [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková on Building Societal Resilience with STRATPOL
Program Manager and Fellow Nad'a Kovalčíková joined StratPol (Strategic Policy Institute) for a panel titled “Civil Engagement and Participation in Defence.” Participants discussed why societal resilience is important for national security and defen [...]
Jessica Brandt and Bret Schafer: Using the Truth to Tell A Lie: Authoritarian Covid-19 Vaccine Mal-Information Strategies
Over the past year, the regimes in Russia, China, and Iran have used a combination of public diplomacy, propaganda, and overt and covert disinformation campaigns to portray their respective responses to the pandemic as superior to those of the West. [...]
Hamilton Toplines: April 26-May 2, 2021
In the wake of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency’s (Anvisa) decision not to authorize Sputnik V for import to Brazil, the Sputnik V Twitter account slammed the choice as the result of political pressure from the United States, criticized Anvisa [...]
China’s State-Backed Messengers See Opportunity in India’s Coronavirus Woes
Overview China's state-backed messengers are using India's health crisis to denigrate the United States and encourage India to step back from its deepening partnership with the United States and other democracies. According to data from the Johns Ho [...]
How to Structure a Foreign Malign Influence Center
On Monday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) confirmed to Politico that it is working to establish a Foreign Malign Influence Center. The center, which was first authorized as part of the 2020 Defense Authorization bill, wil [...]
Bret Schafer Talks the World Wide Web of Coronavirus Conspiracies on ‘EPIDEMIC’
“Disinformation is a deliberate falsehood put out to mislead an audience. But what we see more of are true bits of information where necessary context has been removed or manipulated in a way that makes it technically true but wildly misleading.” - [...]