Editor’s Note: Putting politics aside, The Atlantic lays out for the public just how the Trump campaign adeptly used the Facebook advertising methodology to create a constant message to social media consumers. Successful Facebook advertising includes lots of image and marketing copy testing in order to find the subtle combinations that resonate. Most of the...Read More

Editor’s Note:  The CipherBrief nails it (by way of The Soufan Center): “Without sufficient laws and accompanying strategies in place, the dissemination of disinformation, including the use of deepfakes, will continue unabated despite additional resources. The December 2017 U.S. National Security Strategy mentions disinformation just twice, while the European Union developed a strategy, codes of...Read More

Editor’s Note: Information Professionals Association (IPA) Vice President John Bicknell and Board Member Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon shared “The End of Information Warfare?” written by Zac Rogers of the Jeff Bleich Centre for the US Alliance in Digital Technology, Security, and Governance at Flinders University of South Australia. Bicknell notes, “This thought provoking article begins...Read More

Editor’s note:  Who hasn’t, in a moment of frustration or after long contemplation, thought about deleting your Facebook or other social media account and just be done with it?  One thing holding you back might be all the photos or other items/postings you with to save.  There’s a way to keep all that stuff without...Read More

Editor’s note:  This is one example of what needs to be done to fight misinformation – highlighting the motivations of those who twist and edit statements to suit their motivations.  It’s part of any political playbook and perhaps the divisive nature of our politics is inuring people to the threat misinformation poses to a functioning...Read More

The US Global Engagement Center (GEC) based at the State Department issued a Top 10 list of U.S. Government Research Topics on Countering Disinformation and Propaganda to help drive multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary research collaborations. The GEC worked with counter disinformation experts from the U.S. Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),...Read More

House Intelligence Committee Holds Virtual Open Hearing with Facebook, Google and Twitter on Foreign Influence, COVID-19, and Election Security The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) convened a virtual hearing Thursday, June 18 on Emerging Trends in Online Foreign Influence Operations: Social Media, COVID-19, and Election Security. This was the Committee’s second virtual hearing,...Read More

A new report by research firm Graphika reveals a Russian information campaign dubbed “Secondary Infektion,” that used forgeries, interference, and attacks on Kremlin critics across six years and 300 online sites and social media platforms to provoke tensions between Russia’s perceived enemies and target presidential candidates in multiple countries. While the report uncovers much about...Read More

Editor’s note:  Molly McKew has been reporting on Russian disinformation for years and her scholarship has been noted by us and others.  Using the recent unrest in the US, she has outlined exactly how and why the Russians use dis- and mis-information to deepen divides and weaken western democracy. Summary: Evaluating current information operations: The...Read More

Virtual Colloquium on The Future of Neuroscience in National Security The Intelligence Community Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will host a virtual colloquium on the Future of Neuroscience in National Security on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 from 11am-5pm EDT.  Of interest...Read More