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

On Thursday, July 9, at 1 p.m., the Wilson Center will host a webcast discussion with Nina Jankowicz, the Disinformation Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program. Her book, “How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict,” examines five governments’ responses to disinformation campaigns, the motivations...Read More

Editor’s note: The Information Professionals Association not only seeks to provide a forum for information professionals to interact but also to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars, practitioners, and policymakers within this domain. Periodically, we’ll post funding opportunities that may be of interest to IPA Members and their colleagues. Department of State Global Engagement Center Countering...Read More

Editor’s note:  Ok, you may have read the headline and thought this was going to be a piece about disinformation in the US….  Plenty about that elsewhere on this blog.  No, this is how one country in particular (Hungary) is being affected by disinformation coming from sources outside the country but being willingly disseminated by...Read More

Editor’s Note: During his time as Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates advocated for instruments of “soft power” and advocated for increased spending on diplomacy and for the State Department. In a seminal speech known as the Landon Lecture at Kansas State University on November 7, 2007, Secretary Gates called for increased civilian participation in...Read More