Foreign Malign Influence Threatens a Fundamental Right

Foreign Malign Influence Threatens a Fundamental Right

The most fundamental right of democratic governance is the right that secures all other rights – the right to vote.

In a recent address, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that right is increasingly under threat. As the horrific assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump shows, a clear and present danger is that of violence against public officials.

Another dire danger is the threat posed by foreign malign influence:

“These malign influence operations can take many forms – false personas, fabricated and visive narratives, and synthetic content disseminated through technology like deepfakes.”

Russia remains the dominant threat to our elections, said Deputy Attorney General Monaco, with Putin and his proxies using increasingly sophisticated techniques:

“They’re targeting specific voter demographics and swing-state voters in an effort to manipulate presidential and congressional election outcomes. They’re intent on co-opting unwitting Americans on social media to push narratives advancing Russian interests. They’re working to diminish American support for Ukraine.”

Iran, said Deputy Attorney General Monaco, is also accelerating its malign efforts:

“Relying on vast webs of online personas and propaganda, Iranian government actors are using the Israel-Gaza conflict as kerosene to fuel tensions on social media – with some even creating accounts posing as activists and calling for protest. I want to be clear: Tehran is working to influence the presidential election.”

“China looms large as well,” Deputy Attorney General Monaco said. “Intelligence shows that PRC influence actors are using social media to portray democracies as chaotic and to sow division in the United States. The PRC hopes to expand its ability to collect and monitor Americans’ data on our social media platforms to better understand – and eventually manipulate – public opinion.”

Deputy Attorney General Monaco said that through the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, the Department of Justice is identifying and counteracting foreign operations targeting U.S. elections. In addition, “our strategy involves sharing threat information with companies that operate social media platforms, so that these companies may take their own independent actions to mitigate those threats.”

Deputy Attorney General Monaco declared, “It will take all our efforts to protect our elections and secure our democracy.”