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.
Jessica Brandt on Beijing’s coronavirus disinformation push in The Sydney Morning Herald
“China in particular is using the coronavirus crisis to its advantage in the information domain,” Jessica Brandt told The Sydney Morning Herald. She explained that Chinese diplomatic officials and news outlets are now promoting the conspiracy theory [...]
Lindsay Gorman Discusses Tech Companies’ Efforts to Combat Coronavirus Disinformation on NPR
Technology companies' response to coronavirus "shows what aggressively confronting a disinformation challenge actually looks like and what our big tech platforms can do when there is a strong will to act,” Emerging Technologies Fellow Lindsay Gorman [...]
Jessica Brandt on the U.S.-China coronavirus ‘information contest’ in The Hill
Head of Research and Policy Jessica Brandt told The Hill that the battle over the coronavirus narrative amounts to an “information contest.” She explained that China is using its media to promote their country’s response to coronavirus, aid to Europ [...]
Laura Rosenberger Discusses Coronavirus Disinformation on Deep State Radio
On this episode of Deep State Radio, Director Laura Rosenberger explained that malign foreign actors do not only spread disinformation around elections; information manipulators take advantage of many topics, including coronavirus, to build audience [...]
Chinese and Russian State-Owned Media on the Coronavirus: United Against the West?
Beginning in late January, when news emerged of a “novel coronavirus” spreading through China, Beijing’s propaganda apparatus shifted into overdrive. The epidemic has also been heavily covered in externally-directed Russian state-backed media outlet [...]
Competing Information Operations Target Americans in the Wake of Soleimani’s Killing
As has become the norm in moments of international crisis, the fallout from the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani last month unleashed a flood of disinformation onto social media. In crisis environments, where unconfirmed facts of even benign or [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková Discusses Protecting Democracy in the Digital Era at the Ralf Dahrendorf Roundtable
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková gave a talk on protecting democracy in the digital age at the Ralf Dahrendorf Roundtable in Lisbon. [...]
Matt Schrader on Disinformation and the Taiwan Elections in Protego Press
The Chinese Communist Party tries to undermine Taiwan's democratic government and bend politics to its will through online and offline interference campaigns, China Analyst Matt Schrader explains in Protego Press. [...]
Hamilton 2.0 – Analysis 3 – Why the Jeffrey Epstein saga was the Russian government-funded media’s top story of 2019
Overview In a year featuring a presidential impeachment, Brexit, mass protests in Hong Kong, and widespread geopolitical turmoil, few topics dominated the Russian government-funded media landscape quite like the arrest and subsequent suicide of bil [...]
Bret Schafer Discusses Russian Interference in African American Activist Movements on WPFW – Pacifica
Media and Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer joined David Rabin on WPFW - Pacifica to discuss how Russia has interfered in African American activist movements and how Russia will continue to try to increase polarization throughout the U.S. ahead of [...]
Jessica Brandt on the Dangers of the “Ukraine Did It” Conspiracy Theory in The Hill
When authentic domestic voices pick up Moscow’s narratives and spread them across the information space, they hand the Kremlin a victory, Head of Policy and Research Jessica Brandt argues in The Hill. [...]
Jessica Brandt on Russia’s Ukraine Conspiracy Theories in Axios
Russian influence campaigns that falsely accuse Ukraine of interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election have successfully furthered Russia's yearslong geopolitical battle against its largest European neighbor, Head of Research and Policy Jess [...]