What it’s learned may be crucial to Western democracyEliza Mackintosh, CNN, May 2019https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/05/europe/finland-fake-news-intl/ Helsinki, Finland (CNN) – On a recent afternoon in Helsinki, a group of students gathered to hear a lecture on a subject that is far from a staple in most community college curriculums. Standing in front of the classroom at Espoo Adult […]Read More

Fake Video Faked Pelosi Videos, Slowed To Make Her Appear Drunk, Spread Across Social Media | Drew Harwell | Washington Post Facebook on Fake Pelosi Video: Being “Fake” isn’t Enough for Removal | Nancy Scola | Politico Mona Lisa Frown: Machine Learning Brings Old Paintings And Photos To Life | Devin Coldewey | Tech Crunch  […]Read More

Brian Padden, May 21st 2019, VOA News https://www.voanews.com/a/audit-us-broadcasting-to-cuba-rife-with-bad-journalism-ineffective-propaganda/4926999.html The U.S. government service charged with delivering objective news into Cuba produces both “bad journalism” and “ineffective propaganda,” according to an independent audit released Tuesday. The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees taxpayer-funded international broadcasting, ordered the audit of the Office of Cuban Broadcasting (OCB) […]Read More

Austria shows the risks of dealing with the far right Ishaan Tharoor, May 21st 2019, Washington Post Sebastian Kurz’s partnership with the Freedom Party and its leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, dramatically ended after leaked videos showed Strache promising government contracts in return for donations from a woman posing as a wealthy scion of a Russian oligarch […]Read More

Highlights From the Video That Brought Down Austria’s Vice Chancellor By Christopher F. Schuetze, May 18th 2019, New York Times A secretly filmed video that led Heinz-Christian Strache, Austria’s far-right vice chancellor, to step down on Saturday is filled with eyebrow-raising moments, according to excerpts published by the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel and the newspaper […]Read More

The Weaponization and Exploitation of History, Religion, and EconomicsCSIS Brief, May 14th, 2019https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/190514_ConleyandMelino_RussianInfluence_layout_v2.pdf The Issue Russian malign influence in the Western Balkans is proving to have a political impact in Montenegro through the exploitation of the Orthodox faith, Pan-Slavic identity, and economics. The coup attempt in October 2016 was influence in action as it sought […]Read More

ASD Director Laura Rosenberger will testify before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment on “Undermining Democracy: Kremlin Tools of Malign Political Influence.” Rosenberger will discuss financial and economic vectors of Russia’s interference within the context of its wider authoritarian toolkit. You can watch the testimony live at […]Read More

Our Take The Kremlin’s use of malign finance to undermine democracy: ASD Director Laura Rosenberger will testify before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment on “Undermining Democracy: Kremlin Tools of Malign Political Influence.” Rosenberger will discuss financial and economic vectors of Russia’s interference within the context of […]Read More

Cyber Endeavor 2019 is an upcoming symposium sponsored by Naval Postgraduate School and the DoD’s IO Center for Research. The theme for Cyber Endeavour 2019 is “Advancing US and NATO Interests Against Russian Aggression: Policy, Strategy, and Operations in the Information Environment.”  A number of experts from government, academia, and private industry will participate and […]Read More

Endless Mayfly’s Ephemeral Disinformation Campaign By Gabrielle Lim, Etienne Maynier, John Scott-Railton, Alberto Fittarelli, Ned Moran, and Ron Deibert May 14th, 2019, The CitizenLab https://citizenlab.ca/2019/05/burned-after-reading-endless-mayflys-ephemeral-disinformation-campaign/ Endless Mayfly1 is an Iran-aligned network of inauthentic websites and online personas used to spread false and divisive information primarily targeting Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Israel. Using this network […]Read More