Editor:  I’m highlighting this report because it’s a good example of the legwork being done elsewhere highlighting an issue, the people and entities affected by the issue and, most importantly, the motivations of those that are trying to change the beliefs and behavior of a targeted group.  This is what’s necessary to lay the groundwork...Read More

Editor:  Without a bit of irony Defense One wrote a puff piece on SOCOM’s desire to “understand and influence populations” (among other things) without once mentioning the nearly 30 year old effort within DoD to internalize just this thing through a body of ideas and doctrine titled:  Information Operations.  No surprise since the Department itself...Read More

Announcing the 9th Annual Association of Old Crows Information Operations Symposium! The United States Indo-Pacific Command and the Association Old Crows will once again co-sponsor the annual Information Operations and Electronic Warfare Symposium, now in its 9th year of execution.  The first two days of this event will be held at the UNCLASSIFIED level, and...Read More

David Ignatius has a review up of a new book on Russian Active Measures.  An excerpt: When Russian intelligence officers plotted their campaign to destabilize American politics in 2016, they had nearly a century of experience in covert manipulation to draw upon. The Internet had given the Russians new tools for this mischief. But their...Read More

EEAS SPECIAL REPORT UPDATE: Short Assessment of Narratives and Disinformation around the COVID-19/Coronavirus Pandemic (Updated 2 – 22 April) Update:  The European Values Center for Security Policy highlighted the assertions by the NY Times that this report has been “watered down” to appease China – see the article here. A Summary of an EU report...Read More

The Voice of America and U.S. Public Diplomacy By Michael Williams Those with an interest in US government information efforts abroad will at least have heard of the Voice of America and anyone that has held a position in government that touches on an information programs aimed at foreign audiences has likely known of its...Read More

Editor’s Note:  Whether the assertion is true or not, we have to recognize that human biases make open western democracies very easy targets for the spread of dis- or mis-information.  Why do it?  I was lucky to have been introduced to a book called Unrestricted Warfare written by two PLA Colonels in 2000.  Since then,...Read More

Editor’s Note:  Requiring those with large numbers of social media followers to have some training on mis- and dis-information?  A proposal in the below paper fleshes out this idea.  If you have another idea, Carnegie is asking for papers which you can read about here. A proposal in a paper written for the Carnegie Endowment...Read More

Ed. note – The Cyberspace Solarium Commission published it’s report several days ago but I’ve neither had time to read the whole thing and what I’ve read didn’t really elicit much new thinking for me.  However, a writer at Fifth Domain was able to cut through the clutter: In this environment, it’s imperative that we...Read More

UN announces initiative to combat coronavirus misinformation The United Nations secretary general said the world is not only fighting the coronavirus pandemic, but also a “dangerous epidemic of misinformation.” By Joseph Guzman Story at a glance The U.N. secretary general said “wild” coronavirus conspiracy theories are “infecting the internet.” The United Nations Communications Response initiative...Read More