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: August 8-14, 2020
Iranian, Russian, and Chinese state media and government accounts focused on an array of major developments last week. Iranian accounts continued to cover the aftermath of the Beirut explosion—including continued accusations of U.S. and Israeli invo [...]
Hamilton Analysis: The Vaccine Race: Russia’s Coverage of the Sputnik V Announcement
Overview On August 11, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had approved the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, which it dubbed Sputnik V in reference to the Soviet Union’s famous orbital satellite—the world’s first in 1957. [...]
Hamilton Toplines: August 1-7, 2020
Heavy coverage of the explosion in Beirut was substantial enough to break through the coronavirus news cycle, reflected in the fact that #Beirut was the third most-used hashtag by Russian, Iranian, and Chinese state media and government accounts las [...]
Hamilton Analysis: How Russia and China Covered the TikTok Ban
Overview President Trump’s executive order last week outlining plans to effectively ban Chinese short-form video app TikTok from the U.S. market triggered a predictable backlash from China’s state media and government officials, who accused the U.S. [...]
Laura Rosenberger Discusses Open and Closed Societies and Fighting Misinformation on the ‘Diplomates Podcast’
Director Laura Rosenberger appeared on the "Diplomates Podcast" to discuss the escalating threat of foreign interference, whether social media giants are doing enough to prevent misinformation, if Tiktok should be banned, what democracies must do to [...]
Hamilton Toplines: July 25-31, 2020
Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state media and government accounts once again took aim at the United States last week, with the most pointed commentary coming from China and Iran. On July 31, a series of tweets from the Supreme Leader of Iran’s many [...]
Five Authoritarian Pandemic Messaging Frames and How to Respond
Summary As the coronavirus pandemic has spread around the world, authoritarian actors have engaged in robust information-manipulation campaigns. China—where the virus originated and spread due to the government’s initial cover up and mismanagement [...]
Laura Rosenberger on Russian and Chinese Disinformation on CNN
Director Laura Rosenberger joined CNN's "GPS" to break down how Russian and Chinese disinformation aims to undermine democracy and touts authoritarianism. [...]
Hamilton Weekly Report: July 11-July 17, 2020
Overview Coronavirus coverage was again the primary through line in messaging from Russia, Iran, and China last week, with Russian state media and diplomats touting an alleged breakthrough in the country’s development of a vaccine (a claim boosted b [...]
Ariane Tabatabai on the Spread of Conspiracy Theories to Iran in Foreign Policy
Restart, a fringe Iranian dissident group, shows how conspiracy spreads—and what that means for U.S. politics, Middle East Fellow Ariane Tabatai writes in Foreign Policy. QAnon entered the mainstream U.S. political lingo in 2017, when its followers [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková Discusses New Challenges and Old Pitfalls Facing the European (Dis)information Sphere with Globsec
Fellow and Program Manager Nad’a Kovalčíková joined Globsec's For Chat's Sake series to discuss new challenges and old pitfalls facing the European (dis)information sphere. [...]
Hamilton Weekly Report: July 4-July 10, 2020
Overview The United States and its allies were, once again, the primary targets of negative messaging from Russia, China, and Iran’s diplomats and state media last week. Kremlin-funded media hammered the Baltic states for a second straight week afte [...]