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.
Interference Matters
Catch Me If EU Can: How RT and Sputnik Evade EU Content Bans
Lindsay Gorman on the Spread of Coronavirus Disinformation in Voice of America
Malign foreign actors have been using social media to spread coronavirus disinformation, but their efforts go beyond Facebook and Twitter to less visible platforms, like text messages and Facebook groups, Emerging Technologies Fellow Lindsay Gorman [...]
Jessica Brandt Discusses Coronavirus Disinformation on ‘The WarCast’
Disinformation is a regular part of our information ecosystem, but major political events, such as the coronavirus pandemic, are flashpoints for disinformation agents of all types, Head of Research and Policy Jessica Brandt said on War on the Rocks' [...]
Combating the Coronavirus Infodemic: Is Social Media Doing Enough?
The global coronavirus pandemic has also spawned an epidemic of online disinformation, ranging from false home remedies to state-sponsored influence campaigns. In the confusing environment, false medical theories have even found accidental legitimiz [...]
Matt Schrader Discusses How the Chinese Communist Party is Manipulating the Coronavirus Pandemic with European Values
The Chinese Communist Party understands the geopolitical importance of having control of supply chains in this moment, China Analyst Matt Schrader explained on a European Values webinar panel. He also noted that the CCP's disinformation apparatus ha [...]
Laura Rosenberger on China’s Adoption of Russian Disinformation Tactics in Axios
Director Laura Rosenberger explained that the Chinese party-state's information manipulation tactics in the past few weeks have diverged from what we've seen in the past in Axios. She pointed out three main tactics that Beijing has applied in its co [...]
Laura Rosenberger’s Take on China’s Coronavirus Disinformation Featured in CyberScoop
On a CyberPeace Institute panel, Director Laura Rosenberger explained that China's propaganda apparatus is evolving and taking lessons from Russia. While China used to be much more focused on internal narrative creation and control, now it is sowing [...]
Laura Rosenberger Discusses the Coronavirus ‘Infodemic’ with the CyberPeace Institute
Director Laura Rosenberger joined a group of experts to discuss disinformation in the time of the coronavirus on a webinar organized by the CyberPeace Institute. [...]
Analyzing China’s Coronavirus Propaganda Messaging in Europe
As COVID-19 has spread around the world, the Chinese party-state’s international propaganda apparatus has swung into action. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) propaganda outlets are using declining numbers of COVID-19 sufferers inside China to por [...]
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 [...]