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
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 [...]
Bret Schafer Talks the Dangers of Overt Information on GMF’s Out of Order Podcast
The Russian government uses information operations to try to control the narrative on many issues around the world. Media and Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer says that overt information — news spread to the world from state-run outlets like Sputn [...]
Bret Schafer and Etienne Soula on Tackling Disinformation with Institut Montaigne and Stiftung Neue Verantwortung
Common transatlantic solutions can help counter disinformation campaigns in France and Germany’s changing media ecosystems, Media and Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer and Research Assistant Etienne Soula argue in an article co-written with Institu [...]
David Salvo and Bret Schafer on Foreign Interference as a Local Issue in San Antonio Express-News
Deputy Director David Salvo and Media and Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer explain that foreign interference is a local issue, and local officials, community leaders, and citizens must come together to solve it. [...]
Hamilton 2.0 – Analysis 2 – Syrian Victory Lap
Overview On October 6, President Trump announced a U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria, leading to a week-long Turkish offensive against the Syrian Kurds. Since the announcement, Russian media and diplomats have doubled-down on their Syria coverage [...]