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.
Zack Cooper and Laura Rosenberger in Foreign Affairs: Democratic Values Are a Competitive Advantage
The contest with authoritarianism requires the United States to understand its strengths. Upon winning the presidency, Joe Biden promised to lead “not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.” That pledge is important, because [...]
Our Experts’ 2021 Foreign Interference Policy Wishlist
Every December, the Alliance for Securing Democracy team tries to take a step back and look at the foreign interference landscape, and to take stock of where new laws and policies would have the greatest impact at strengthening our institutions from [...]
Jessica Brandt on How China’s “Wolf Warrior” Diplomats Use Twitter to Troll Beijing’s Enemies in Vox
Head of Policy and Research Jessica Brandt spoke to Vox's Alex Ward about China's information manipulation tactics. China has a new weapon in its global information warfare arsenal: “wolf warriors.” Named after a popular Chinese nationalistic film [...]
The Weaponized Web: Levers in the Digital Advertising Ecosystem
This paper is the first in a series on technology policy through the lens of national security, published in partnership with the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. Introduction Open societies have [...]
Hamilton Toplines: December 5-11, 2020
Continuing a pattern seen in recent weeks, Russian state media covered various issues and concerns related to Western coronavirus vaccines and lamented the alleged anti-Russia bias in Western media coverage of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. Meanwhile, [...]
ASD Event Summary: Linking Values and Strategy: How Democracies Can Outcompete Autocracies
On December 10, the Alliance for Securing Democracy hosted a virtual event with Ambassador Eric Edelman, Ambassador Samantha Power, and Dr. Kori Schake on steps the United States can take to regain the initiative in the emerging competition with aut [...]
Linking Values and Strategy: How Democracies Can Outcompete Autocracies
Ambassador Eric Edelman, Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence at John Hopkins’ Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Co-Chair of ASD’s Offset Strategy for Democracies Task Force Ambassador Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of the Practi [...]
Hamilton Toplines: November 28-December 4, 2020
As with previous weeks, Russian state media and official government accounts promoted positive messaging related to Russia’s coronavirus vaccines, while highlighting controversies and problems related to Western vaccines. While some of this content [...]
Hamilton Analysis: Chinese State Propaganda Apparatus Tests Boundaries in Australia
Overview On November 30, 2020, local time, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department Deputy Director General and spokesperson Zhao Lijian tweeted a doctored photo of an Australian Defence Force Special Forces (ADF) soldier slitting [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková and Ariane Tabatabai: What Should Be Done Next to Counter the COVID-19 Infodemic?
As governments and citizens around the world have struggled with the novel coronavirus, the information space has turned into a battleground. Authoritarian countries, including Russia, China and Iran, have spread disinformation on the causes of and [...]
Hamilton Analysis: China Uses New Trade Pact for Geopolitical Signaling
Overview On Sunday, November 15, 15 Asia-Pacific nations signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) via video conference. Comprising China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, Japan, South Korea, Aust [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková on the Coronavirus Infodemic: Using and Abusing Information Space
DROG interviewed Fellow and Program Manager Nad'a Kovalčíková about China's role in the coronavirus infodemic as part of its crash course on coronavirus disinformation. [...]