Disinformation And The Threat To National Security Asp American

As U.S. adversaries are aligning their disinformation narratives, America’s choice to unilaterally disarm places its citizens at risk. To address this vulnerability, the U.S. should pre-emptively counter false narratives and build its collective cognitive defenses. Read More The American Security Project (ASP) is proud to announce the appointment of three distinguished leaders to its Board of Directors.

Read More Disinformation Deemed Greatest Threat to US Stability, Posing Grave Risks to Democracy and Social Cohesion Washington D.C. – In a stark warning issued by a bipartisan panel of experts, disinformation has been identified as the single most significant threat facing the United States, surpassing even external military threats and economic instability. This comprehensive report, the culmination of a year-long study involving leading academics, intelligence officials, and former government representatives, paints a grim picture of a nation increasingly vulnerable to the corrosive effects of manipulated information. The panel concluded that the pervasive spread of false and misleading narratives is not only eroding public trust in institutions but also actively fueling social divisions and undermining the very foundations of American democracy.

The report highlights the multifaceted nature of this threat, emphasizing how disinformation campaigns, often amplified through sophisticated technological means, can manipulate public opinion, incite violence, and disrupt elections. The panel pointed to specific instances where deliberately fabricated stories, disseminated through social media and other online platforms, have led to real-world consequences, including acts of violence and political instability. The rise of deepfakes, synthetic media generated using artificial intelligence, adds another layer of complexity to the challenge, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between authentic and fabricated content. This blurring of reality poses a significant threat to informed decision-making and fuels a climate of distrust and paranoia. The pervasiveness of disinformation is attributed to a confluence of factors, including the proliferation of online platforms with limited content moderation, the decline of traditional media sources as trusted arbiters of truth, and the... The report underscores the deliberate and malicious intent behind many of these campaigns, aimed at sowing discord, undermining public trust, and manipulating political outcomes.

Furthermore, the report stresses the vulnerability of certain demographics, particularly older adults and those with limited access to unbiased information, who are more susceptible to falling prey to disinformation campaigns. The panel’s findings emphasize the urgent need for a multi-pronged approach to combat the disinformation crisis. Key recommendations include increased media literacy education to empower citizens to critically evaluate information, bolstering fact-checking initiatives and independent journalism, and enhancing platform accountability through stricter content moderation policies. The report also calls for greater transparency from social media companies regarding the spread of disinformation and the algorithms that amplify it. Legislative measures, carefully crafted to protect free speech while addressing the harmful impacts of disinformation, are also considered crucial in mitigating this evolving threat. Part of the book series: Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications ((ASTSA))

This chapter provides an analysis of the implications of disinformation for national security. It examines the factors that make open societies particularly vulnerable, the actors that orchestrate disinformation campaigns and their strategic motivations. It also suggests possible ways forward to counter the challenge. It is argued that disinformation campaigns seek to undermine cohesion within democratic societies by sowing doubt, promoting confusion, and fostering division. The erosion of social trust aggravates political polarization, hinders governance, and provides fertile ground for extremisms. The sociopolitical circumstances in several Western societies, already polarized and immersed in the post-truth era, make them particularly predisposed to disinformation.

Moreover, when used by states against foreign audiences, disinformation campaigns may aim at diminishing the international competitiveness of rival states, on the one hand, and produce on the other hand more amenable societies that... Therefore, it is concluded that in the international arena disinformation is employed as a subtle, low-cost alternative to try to achieve gradual relative power gains at the expense of the rivals. This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access. Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout @Policy (2018). Update on Twitter’s review of the 2016 US election.

Twitter Blog. Retrieved from https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2018/2016-election-update.html FILE - A woman walks with her ballot to a vacant voting booth at City Hall in San Francisco, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) FILE - The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, Calif., on March 17, 2023.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — When he first emerged on social media, the user known as Harlan claimed to be a New Yorker and an Army veteran who supported Donald Trump for president. Harlan said he was 29, and his profile picture showed a smiling, handsome young man. A few months later, Harlan underwent a transformation. Now, he claimed to be 31 and from Florida. New research into Chinese disinformation networks targeting American voters shows Harlan’s claims were as fictitious as his profile picture, which analysts think was created using artificial intelligence.

A London-based think tank recently released a report on how a Russian disinformation network was able to penetrate the global information sphere. An Institute for Strategic Dialogue analysis revealed that Pravda Network news articles were overwhelmingly treated as credible sources by major U.S. publications, allowing Russia to present false narratives to American audiences. While foreign disinformation always poses a risk, recently that risk has grown. As U.S. adversaries are increasing their disinformation effectiveness through narrative alignment, America’s choice to unilaterally disarm places its citizens at risk.

Disinformation is a subset of foreign malign influence, which is any subversive, undeclared, coercive, or criminal foreign effort to influence the beliefs and behaviors of U.S. individuals or institutions. The National Intelligence Council’s IC Lexicon for Foreign Malign Influence defines disinformation as: “False or misleading information deliberately created or spread with the intent to deceive or mislead”. Its ultimate goal is to gain societal acceptance in order to influence thoughts and behaviors among its targeted population. In recent years, China has been increasingly mimicking Russian disinformation efforts. Similarities between Chinese endeavors in Hong Kong and past Russian campaigns have been noted as far back as 2018, with one Chinese official even admitting to China drawing inspiration from Russia’s 2016 U.S.

Presidential Election meddling. Russia and China generally use disinformation to boost their own standing and to weaken trust in America or the West, both at home and abroad. The similarities between Russian and Chinese disinformation enables them to align their narratives against their targeted publics, increasing its effectiveness. This trend has been most identifiable during both the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Starting in February 2020, initially discordant Russian and Chinese Covid-19 disinformation converged on a select number of narratives, including that the virus was a U.S. bioweapon.

Additionally, China has echoed false Russian claims pertaining to their invasion of Ukraine, including accusations of American biological weapons and genocide against ethnic Russians. This alignment increases the palatability of both state’s narratives. Analysis of Russian propaganda tactics reveals that the more sources a narrative is heard from, the more believable it is. Narrative band-wagoning by China and Russia leverages this phenomenon to increase the perceived credibility of each other’s disinformation by increasing the number of sources from which people hear these similar narratives. The risks of domestic disinformation acceptance can be lethal. During the Covid –19 pandemic, Chinese and Russian narratives gained traction with certain U.S.

medical professionals. In 2023, 52 physicians were identified as spreading similar narratives, such as promoting unproven alternatives to vaccination. As up to one third of Covid deaths in America by 2023 were deemed preventable, it is highly likely that the foreign proliferation of health disinformation resulted in the avoidable deaths of American citizens. As this demonstrates that the consequences of disinformation can be quite real, the U.S. should prioritize identifying and countering foreign disinformation campaigns.

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