Targeted Disinformation Warfare: How and Why Foreign Efforts are Effective, and Recommendations for Impactful Government Action

dc.contributor.author Guge, Ethan
dc.contributor.department Political Science
dc.contributor.majorProfessor Dr. Mack Shelley
dc.date 2020-08-28T18:42:57.000
dc.date.accessioned 2021-02-25T00:02:12Z
dc.date.available 2021-02-25T00:02:12Z
dc.date.copyright Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2020
dc.date.embargo 2020-07-19
dc.date.issued 2020-01-01
dc.description.abstract <p>Targeted disinformation campaigns are a cheap and effective way to create real harms that have a society-wide impact. This form of information warfare capitalizes on inherent features of the internet messaging platforms and the free nature of democratic societies to spread false and malicious content designed to increase discord by exacerbating existing social and political chasms, promote chaos and fear, and generate distrust toward government. Through the lens of Russian “Active Measures,” this paper gives a historical overview of foreign state-backed disinformation efforts, insight into modern disinformation tactics and why they are effective, and applies this analysis to a real-world scenario to inform the general public and key decision-makers while identifying potential areas of government action to combat this threat. Immediate government action can be taken to tackle this threat. Modern disinformation operations are not married to a particular election cycle, political candidate, or political party, and efforts to combat them need to be sustainable in the long-term and involve a cohesive government approach. A practical, government-led response has four main components. First, to allocate government responsibility and centralize efforts to combat threat actors. Second, to strengthen and promote methods of information sharing between the public and private sectors. Third, to increase the liability of online social media platforms. Lastly, to build resilience through public education.</p>
dc.format.mimetype PDF
dc.identifier archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/creativecomponents/584/
dc.identifier.articleid 1645
dc.identifier.contextkey 18578075
dc.identifier.doi https://doi.org/10.31274/cc-20240624-1376
dc.identifier.s3bucket isulib-bepress-aws-west
dc.identifier.submissionpath creativecomponents/584
dc.identifier.uri https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/93704
dc.source.bitstream archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/creativecomponents/584/Ethan_Guge___Creative_Component__Summer_2020_.pdf|||Sat Jan 15 01:02:09 UTC 2022
dc.subject.disciplines Other Political Science
dc.subject.keywords Disinformation
dc.subject.keywords Information Warfare
dc.subject.keywords Russia
dc.subject.keywords IRA
dc.subject.keywords Social Media
dc.subject.keywords National Security
dc.title Targeted Disinformation Warfare: How and Why Foreign Efforts are Effective, and Recommendations for Impactful Government Action
dc.type article
dc.type.genre creativecomponent
dspace.entity.type Publication
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication a4a018a7-4afa-4663-ba11-f2828cbd0a15
thesis.degree.discipline Public Administration
thesis.degree.level creativecomponent
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