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.
Interference Matters
Inflaming Divides: Russian Narratives on the California Wildfires
Peter Benzoni quoted in Point Conference on Russian Information Laundering
Peter Benzoni, an investigative data and research analyst on the information manipulation team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) presented the Information Laundromat. Using this tool, researchers examined content laundering practices acro [...]
ASD at GMF and the Cyber Collective Join Forces to Protect Democracy and Raise Cybersecurity Awareness
ASD at GMF and the Cyber Collective are excited to announce our partnership to strengthen global cybersecurity and protect democracy. This collaboration is designed to bring research-backed, expert-verified information to the top of the algorithms o [...]
Bret Schafer quoted in The New York Times on the Information Laundromat and Banned RT Content in the EU
“This is really the tip of the Russian propaganda iceberg,” said Bret Schafer, a co-author of the report and a senior fellow at German Marshall Fund. “It was quite evident when we were running the search results in the E.U. that if Russian propagand [...]
Faux Local News Sites, Lifestyle and Spirituality Blogs, and a Designated Terrorist Entity Among Nearly 400 Websites Laundering Russian Propaganda Online
New Information Laundromat tool used to analyze how RT.com skirts sanctions and platform bans Washington, D.C. – The Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (ASD at GMF), the University of Amsterdam (U [...]
The Russian Propaganda Nesting Doll: How RT is Layered into the Digital Information Environment
Executive Summary Over the past year, ASD at GMF, the University of Amsterdam (UvA), and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) have collaborated to develop the Information Laundromat, an open-source tool to uncover content and metadata simila [...]
Five Questions for the US Senate Intelligence Hearing on Foreign Threats to the 2024 Election
Despite a lower profile in the national debate, the tools, tactics, motivations, and actors associated with foreign interference in US elections have evolved significantly since Russia’s “sweeping and systematic” 2016 operation. The Cybersecurity an [...]
David Salvo on the Brussels Sprouts Podcast at CNAS: Russian Influence on the Upcoming EU Elections
Co-Managing Director David Salvo joined the Center for a New American Security's Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend, alongside the International Republican Institute's Brady Hills, for an episode of the Brussels Sprouts podcast to discuss Russia [...]
Bret Schafer at GMF Brussels Forum 2024: Trust in Information in the Age of AI
More than half the world’s population will head to the polls this year in the largest display of democracy in human history. This series of elections is also the first to unfold in an era in which advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) [...]
From Russia With Spin: How Content From Russian State Media is Laundered by Polish Blogs
Researchers from two European universities with support from ASD have uncovered evidence that a small network of Polish news blogs—Lega Artis, News na Dziś, and Daily Blitz—may serve as pathways for Russian state media and pro-Kremlin media to reach [...]
The Role of Search Engines in Contesting or Reinforcing Election Fraud Narratives
“Look up SMARTMATIC and tweet me what you think?” tweeted Rudy Guiliani, then-US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, in the weeks after the 2020 US presidential election. It was part of a broader campaign to delegitimize the election by castin [...]
The China-Russia Nexus of Disinformation
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 10:00 - 11:00am ET 1600 - 1700 CET In the two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Russia’s and the People’s Republic of China’s use of disinformation has increased along with Moscow and Beijin [...]
Russia Is Still Finding Willing Partners Throughout Europe
While the news cycle is still abuzz with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s interview of Russian President Vladimir Putin, flying under the radar are new details about Russian intelligence’s role in cultivating ties with political parties in Euro [...]