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.
Information Manipulation
Thinning the ICE: Russian and Chinese Messaging on the Los Angeles Protests
Disney: Beijing’s Unwitting Publicist?
Attentive moviegoers who went to see Disney’s reimagined Mulan last week made an unpleasant discovery during the end credits, namely that the corporation thanked several government entities in Xinjiang, home to the Uighur minority that the Chinese g [...]
Hamilton Toplines: September 5-11, 2020
Russian, Chinese, and Iranian government and state media accounts and outlets covered well-trodden ground last week, with each country returning to familiar topics or themes. For the third straight week, Russian government officials and state media [...]
Clint Watts on the Aims of Russian Disinformation on MSNBC
Clint Watts joined the Wilson Center's Nina Jankowicz to discuss the aims of Russian disinformation in the 2020 Election on MSNBC's Live with Ali Velshi. [...]
Lindsay Gorman Hosts a GMF Face Off Debate On Banning Chinese Diplomats from Twitter
ASD Fellow for Emerging Technologies Lindsay Gorman moderated a GMF Face Off Debate between Rep. Mike Gallagher (Wisconsin's 8th District) and Member of the European Parliament Miriam Lexmann (Slovakia) on the question of whether Chinese diplomats s [...]
Clint Watts on Deepfakes and American Democracy in the Washington Post
ASD Non-Resident Fellow Clint Watts co-authored a piece on deepfakes and their impact on American democracy with Tim Hwang of the University of Texas at Austin in the Washington Post. [...]
Hamilton Toplines: August 29-September 4, 2020
As with most major dates in World War II, Russian diplomatic and government accounts last week put out a spate of messaging marking the Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 and, more significantly, the recently changed date Russia recognizes [...]
Hamilton Analysis: A Tale of Two Protest Movements: Russian, Iranian, and Chinese Coverage of Protests in Belarus vs. the United States
Overview On August 9, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko declared a landslide victory in an election widely regarded to be neither free nor fair, sparking widespread protests across the country. Since that time, Russian, Chinese, and Iranian [...]
Clint Watts Joins a Panel On NBC’s Meet the Press to Discuss Disinformation and the 2020 Election
ASD Non-Resident Fellow Clint Watts joined Michael Waldman and Janai Nelson in a panel discussion on voting access and disinformation on NBC's Meet the Press. [...]
Jennifer Gurev and David Levine on Holding Safe Elections Under Coronavirus
ASD Junior Fellow Jennifer Gurev and Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine discuss election integrity during the threat of coronavirus, and explore examples like the elections in Poland and the cyber attacks in North Macedonia. [...]
Hamilton Toplines: August 21-27, 2020
The major through-line in messaging from Russia, China, and Iran last week was a focus on police brutality, racial justice protests, and violence and unrest in the United States, following a pattern established earlier this year in their respective [...]
Zack Cooper and Bret Schafer Discuss Election Preparedness at The City Club of Cleveland
ASD Director Zack Cooper and Media and Digital Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer joined Girma Parris of Case Western Reserve University on a panel at The City Club of Cleveland to discuss the United States' disinformation and election security prep [...]
Laura Rosenberger on Confidence in the 2020 Elections on KERA ‘Think’
Laura Rosenberger went on KERA "Think" to discuss Russian and Chinese interference and Americans' confidence in the 2020 election. [...]