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: 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. [...]
Huawei, the 2020 U.S. Elections, and Transatlantic Messaging
As the votes were counted in the 2020 U.S. election, blacklisted China-registered technology company Huawei positioned itself on Twitter as a steadfast vendor in European markets regardless of the election results. The common narrative within these [...]
Hamilton Toplines: November 14-20, 2020
In last week’s post-U.S. election coverage from Russian state media, two major topics were the pro-Trump demonstrations in DC the weekend of November 14, in which accounts of violence directed at pro-Trump demonstrators and the size of the rally wer [...]
Foreign Amplification of Voter Fraud Narratives: How Russian, Iranian, and Chinese Messengers Have Leveraged Post-Election Unrest in the United States
Overview The aftermath of the U.S. presidential election has seen a tidal wave of false and misleading information about the validity of the election results as well as the legitimacy and security of the voting process. Narratives related to ballot [...]
Bret Schafer Discusses Parler’s Growing User Base on Newsy
The app's main draw is its hands-off content moderation approach. Experts worry that can lead to harmful false information spreads on other platforms. Parler, the social media platform marketed as a “free speech social network” with a hands-off appro [...]