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
ASD’s Jessica Brandt Discusses Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election
ASD Head of Policy and Research Jessica Brandt was interviewed by Public Radio International, where she spoke about the two-pronged nature of Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. elections: disinformation and cyberattacks. Brandt also praised the [...]
Laura Rosenberger in Discussion at the Aspen Security Forum: Democracy, Misinformation, and Cyber Campaigns
ASD Director Laura Rosenberger participated in a panel discussion, "New Threats from Old Adversaries: Democracy, Misinformation, and Cyber Campaigns," at the Aspen Security Forum on July 19, 2019. Joining Rosenberger to discuss disinformation, cyber [...]
Advanced Persistent Manipulators, Part Three: Social Media Kill Chain
Clint Watts is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is the author of Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terro [...]
Clint Watts talks Russian Interference on Lawfare’s Active Measures Podcast
ASD Non-resident Fellow Clint Watts discusses Russian cyber interference and the Internet Research Agency on the first episode of Lawfare's new Active Measures podcast. [...]
Online Harms White Paper: Open Consultation Submission to the U.K. Parliament
The following is an introduction to the submission by ASD Intern Amber Frankland In April 2019, the United Kingdom’s Home Office published its Online Harms White Paper, which proposed a regulatory framework designed to address the prevalence of “il [...]
Heidi Tworek on State Control of Social Media in The Atlantic
ASD Non-resident Fellow Heidi Tworek uses the example of prewar Germany to discuss the problem of government over-regulation of media in The Atlantic. [...]
Iran’s Newest Info Op Shows an Evolution of Tactics
On October 26, Facebook announced that it removed “82 Pages, Groups, and accounts for coordinated inauthentic behavior” originating from Iran. The information operation targeted citizens of the United States and United Kingdom, often by creating fic [...]
A View from the Digital Trenches – Lessons from Year One of Hamilton 68
Summary The Russian government’s active measures campaign during the 2016 U.S. presidential election was a watershed moment in the study of modern information operations. Revelations that the Kremlin had purchased divisive political ads on social [...]
Beware the Aftermath – The Threat of Foreign Interference Won’t End on Election Day
Government officials and tech titans could be excused for breathing a huge, collective sigh of relief if next week’s midterms come to pass without evidence of widespread foreign manipulation. But if recent U.S. elections are any indication, the thre [...]
Target USA: Key Takeaways from the Kremlin’s “Project Lakhta”
On October 19, the Department of Justice announced charges against Elena Khusyaynova, a St. Petersburg-based accountant, for working as part of a conspiracy to wage “information warfare against the United States of America.” According to the FBI, Kh [...]
Key Takeaways from the Kremlin’s Recent Interference Offensive
On October 4, officials in the Netherlands and U.K. revealed a joint counterintelligence operation that led to the arrest and expulsion of four Russian military intelligence (GRU) officers in April for attempting to hack the Organization for the Pro [...]
Kavanaugh, Twitter, and Facebook in hot seat this week
ASD Director Laura Rosenberger joined the Morning Joe crew to discuss Twitter and Facebook's testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. After executives from Twitter and Facebook testified before Congress on Wednesday, Lau [...]