ASD contributes long and short form research products and analysis to inform and engage our audience on a range of issues related to malign foreign interference. In addition, we develop policy recommendations and strategies to close vulnerabilities and safeguard institutions from authoritarian threats.
Combating the Latest Technological Threat to Democracy: A Comparison of Facebook and Twitter’s Deepfake Policies
Deepfake technology that uses artificial intelligence to create and modify videos, images, and audio recordings to place individuals in situations they were never in, or put false words in their mouths, has burst onto the scene as the latest technol [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Our Take The rollout of 5G wireless networks will likely be a defining geopolitical dilemma of 2020, but American and European consumers could easily mistake 5G for just another marketing ploy for early adopters—to the detriment of democracies worl [...]
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 [...]
2020 NDAA: Important Steps toward Addressing Foreign Interference
The United States Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, an annual bill designating funding for the Department of Defense, on a bipartisan basis. Priorities outlined in the NDAA will drive important elements of [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Our Take Russia wrote the playbook on foreign interference; other governments are now mimicking their tactics, Deputy Director Dave Salvo said in an interview with 91.5 KJZZ Phoenix. It is imperative that platforms and policymakers make the informa [...]
Swing State Practices Bolster Election Security Ahead of 2020
The Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Director of National Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), National Security Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Age [...]
Russian Malign Finance and U.S. Economic Statecraft: The Indirect Approach
There is an emerging recognition in Western capitals that Russian strategic economic coercion and malign financial activity threaten to undermine the rule of law, weaken democracy, and meaningfully affect American and European politics. This underst [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements At the Alliance for Securing Democracy, we are working to develop comprehensive strategies to defend against, deter, and raise the costs on state actors’ efforts to undermine democracy and democratic institutions. We hope you will con [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Our Take Russia’s strategy in the information space is to create the impression that it is impossible to know who is behind a particular narrative, Director Laura Rosenberger explained in a story about the Russian-backed campaign to frame Ukraine f [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Our Take Foreign adversaries could rely on some voters’ expectation of manipulation to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the democratic process, warned Fellow for Elections Integrity David Levine in Fortune. Elections are just one target of much broa [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcement The Alliance for Securing Democracy is proud to partner with Microsoft in bringing together representatives from government, industry and civil society to counter cyber threats to elections and democracy more broadly as part of the Par [...]
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 [...]