Securing Democracy Dispatch

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the information ecosystem, but it is also being weaponized by authoritarian actors to undermine democracy. Register here to join ASD and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy for an in-person discussion on this topic in Brussels on May 13!

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Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week:

• Romanian Elections: Russian state media celebrated the victory of nationalist and anti-EU candidate George Simion in the first round of Romania’s presidential elections, which were re-run after the previous election was annulled due to allegations of campaign fraud and Russian interference. Inosmi claimed in a Telegram post that the results were proof that voters were tired of the “nonsense from Kyiv and Brussels”. In a separate post, they highlighted comments from a French commentator who warned that Simion would never become president because the “EU’s democratic humanists will organize an assassination attempt on him if necessary”. Significant coverage focused on Romania’s decision to detain and deport RT journalist Chay Bowes, who was allegedly there to cover the election. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that the arrest was part of a “Russophobic global agenda paid for by the West, including” the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan sarcastically commented that the incident proved that “democracy in Romania is increasing more and more every day”.
• Victory Day: As is always the case, Russian state media and diplomats provided substantial coverage of Russia’s upcoming military parade to commemorate the allies’ victory in the World War II. Amidst the typical patriotic messaging, several commentators took shots at Ukraine for refusing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for a ceasefire during the celebration, with propagandist Vladimir Soloviev relaying Dmitry Medvedev’s threat that if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he called a “green unshaven scum”, created a provocation during the parade on May 9 that “no one could guarantee that May 10 will come in Kiev”. Russian government spokespeople also called British plans to include Ukrainian armed forces in Victory Day celebrations “blasphemy”, “sacrilege”, and a decision made by London out of “despair and hopelessness”. Several Russian outlets and officials also took shots at US President Donald Trump’s comment that the United States was ultimately responsible for defeating fascism, with Medvedev calling the comment “pompous nonsense”. 

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: 

• Tariff Negotiations: Last week, Xinhua tied the drop in US GDP to the Trump administration’s tariff policies. CGTN interviewed the Los Angeles port director, who warned that higher prices were about to hit Americans very soon, and the Global Times relayed Warren Buffett’s criticism that the tariffs were “a big mistake”. By contrast, CGTN described the PRC as the defender of “global fairness” and as standing up to US “bullying”. CGTN highlighted tariffs’ impact on France and Japan, while a pro-PRC commentator suggested that Brazil and the PRC should work together to push back. A CGTN anchor insisted that it was the United States that was asking for negotiations and the PRC Embassy in the United States later declared that Beijing had only agreed to engage with Washington because of “global expectations, China’s interests, and the appeals of the U.S. business community”.
• CIA Ads: On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded angrily to a question about two Chinese-language ads from the CIA aimed at recruiting Chinese informants and called out the United States’ “despicable methods to steal other countries’ secrets”. PRC embassies in the United States and in Fiji, as well as China Daily and the Global Times, amplified this statement. CGTN commentator Shen Shiwei criticized the “weird wording” in the CIA ads and mocked past CIA failures in the PRC. The PRC Embassy in Ghana and Pakistan-based diplomat Zhang Heqing relayed an AI-generated spoof of the ad that attacked US democracy and its “bloodsucking elites”.

Russian influence network finds success in targeting USAID: Out of 135 pieces of content created and amplified by Operation Overload—a pro-Kremlin network known for creating content impersonating media outlets—134 received little engagement from online users, according to an analysis by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. One video, however, falsely claiming that USAID paid celebrities to visit Ukraine went viral, receiving over 4 million views. Managing Director David Salvo tells the Dispatch, “It only takes one piece of content to strike gold for an information operation to be successful—and no surprise that Russia would target USAID’s work in Ukraine. The sheer volume of content that Russian state-sponsored actors put into the ether is staggering and most, like in this operation, don’t land at all. But with the right amplifier—in this case, Elon Musk—they can get millions of eyeballs on content that is patently untrue. Even back in 2016, the many Twitter accounts Russian state actors set up may not have had much impact in isolation. But with boosts from key online voices, along with most mainstream media outlets, one influential Russian state-operated Twitter account ultimately reached millions of Americans. Flooding the zone can pay dividends.”

AI chatbots continue to hallucinate despite advancements: Newer AI systems for leading chatbots are hallucinating—generating false or misleading responses—at a higher rate—as high as 79%, according to one test—than previous systems. OpenAI similarly reported its newest system hallucinates 48% of the time, more than twice the rate of its previous system. Senior Fellow Bret Schafer says, “Whatever the reason behind the decline in reliability, empirical research and anecdotal evidence continues to point to the fact that chatbots come with serious risks—not just to information integrity but potentially public safety.”

In Case You Missed It

• Polish officials accused Russia of “unprecedented” interference in Poland’s upcoming presidential election, including conducting cyberattacks against critical infrastructure and recruiting Polish citizens to spread propaganda.
• A pro-Kremlin hacking group took down several Romanian government websites— including that of the Romanian Constitutional Court and Foreign Ministry—and four presidential candidates sites last Sunday during the first round of voting of Romania’s presidential election.
• The Russian state-linked Pravda network created a Gaelic-language website to target Scottish audiences with false and polarizing narratives, including about a Scottish politician of Pakistani descent.
• Since mid-March, Pravda’s Australia-based website has significantly increased its output, churning out as many as 155 articles a day ahead of Australia’s federal election last week, likely in an attempt to shape AI chatbots’ responses.
• Trump proposed cutting the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s budget by nearly 16% and eliminating the agency’s programs focused on countering information threats.

The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the author alone.