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
Are Journalists Ready for Foreign Interference in 2020?
Last month, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released volume two of its investigation into Russian interference, which details an extensive campaign that aims to sow division and undermine American democracy via social media. One of [...]
Bret Schafer Talks Political Disinformation on the Ross Kaminsky Show
Bret Schafer talks online political disinformation on the Ross Kaminsky Show on Denver's 630 KHOW. [...]
Countering Information Operations Demands A Common Democratic Strategy
In a world increasingly interconnected by technology, democratic governments are grappling with how to defend against and counter information operations targeting their societies. Russia has emerged as the most prolific foreign actor engaging in t [...]
Bret Schafer Interviewed on Online Trolls on NPR’s All Things Considered
Media and Digital Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer discusses online disinformation and the ongoing impeachment inquiry in the House on NPR's All Things Considered. [...]
Hamilton 2.0 – Analysis 1 – Revisionist History
Overview The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has engaged in a prolonged effort to create a version of Russian history free “from internal contradictions and ambiguities.” But attempts to airbrush Russian history have recently become a messa [...]
Laura Rosenberger and Brad Hanlon on How Not to Respond to Disinformation for Progressive Centre UK
Western countries should not respond to disinformation campaigns against them with their own disinformation campaigns, Director Laura Rosenberger and Research Assistant Brad Hanlon argue in an article for Progressive Centre UK. [...]
Laura Rosenberger and Zack Cooper on Chinese Info Operations in the Washington Post
In their first joint op-ed, ASD Co-Directors Laura Rosenberger and Zack Cooper write that Western tech companies’ confirmation of Chinese government efforts to manipulate the information space outside its Great Firewall should serve as a wake-up cal [...]
Hamilton 2.0 Methodology & FAQs
How to Interpret Hamilton 2.0 Hamilton 2.0 displays outputs from sources that we can directly attribute to the Russian, Chinese, or Iranian governments or their various news and information channels. These channels and accounts often engage with t [...]
Jessica Brandt on China Social Media Takedowns in Axios
ASD Head of Research and Policy Jessica Brandt gives Axios readers a rundown on the latest Facebook, Twitter, and Google takedowns of accounts associated with coordinated inauthentic behavior on the part of the PRC government. [...]
Matt Schrader Interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Twitter and Facebook’s China Takedowns
ASD China Analyst Matt Schrader joined ABC’s David Sparks to discuss Twitter and Facebook’s takedown of a Chinese state-backed disinformation campaign targeting the Hong Kong protest movement. [...]
Avoiding the Band-Aid Effect in Institutional Responses to Disinformation and Hybrid Threats
About the Author Nina Jankowicz is a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Kennan Institute, where she studies Russian disinformation and the democratic challenges of the technology age. Her first book, How to Lose [...]
Mueller Hearings: Policy Recommendations on Combatting Foreign Interference
In his testimony this week, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller III reiterated that foreign interference is “among the most serious” challenges to democracy, and that it “deserves the attention of every American.” The Alliance for Securing Democr [...]