The Russia connectionU.S. Efforts to Counter Russian Disinformation and Malign Influence
“President Vladimir Putin’s Russia seeks to weaken Western governments and transatlantic institutions, discredit democratic and liberal values, and create a post-truth world,” says Alina Polyakova. “Russian disinformation campaigns aim to amplify existing social divisions and further polarize democratic societies. As such, they don’t stop when the ballot box closes. Elections may provide an ideal high-impact opportunity for a disinformation actor, but the barrage of disinformation against Western democracies, including the United States, continues between election cycles. Disinformation, as a tool of Russia’s political warfare, is not new. But what is new is that, today, what used to take years, takes minutes. The advance of digital technology and communication allows for the high-speed spread of disinformation, rapid amplification of misleading content, and massive manipulation via unsecured points of influence. This digital ecosystem creates opportunities for manipulation that have exceeded the ability of democratic nations to respond, and sometimes even to grasp the extent of the challenge.”
Alina Polyakova, director of the Project on Global Democracy and Emerging Technology at Brookings, testified at a 10 July 2019 hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, on “United States Efforts to Counter Russian Disinformation and Malign Influence.” Her full written testimony is available to download here. An adapted version of it can be found below.
Dear Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers, Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee:
It is an honor and privilege to address you today on this important issue. Thank you for inviting me to testify.
President Vladimir Putin’s Russia seeks to weaken Western governments and transatlantic institutions, discredit democratic and liberal values, and create a post-truth world, with the aim of shielding Moscow’s autocracy from liberal influence and easing Russia’s domination of its neighbors (see Alina Polyakova and Daniel Fried, Democratic Defense against Disinformation [Washington, D.C.: Atlantic Council, February 2018]). Russian disinformation campaigns aim to amplify existing social divisions and further polarize democratic societies. As such, they don’t stop when the ballot box closes. Elections may provide an ideal high-impact opportunity for a disinformation actor, but the barrage of disinformation against Western democracies, including the United States, continues between election cycles.
The spread of disinformation to undermine public confidence is one critical tool in the Kremlin’s broader tool-kit of malign influence, which also includes cyber-hacking, illicit finance, support for radical movements and parties, and the use of economic warfare, primarily through energy exports. Disinformation, as a tool of Russia’s political warfare, is not new.
But what is new is that, today, what used to take years, takes minutes. The advance of digital technology and communication allows for the high-speed spread of disinformation, rapid amplification of misleading content, and massive manipulation via unsecured points of influence. This digital ecosystem creates opportunities for manipulation that have exceeded the ability of democratic nations to respond, and sometimes even to grasp the extent of the challenge.
