Active Measures: Moscow Blends Media/Technology in Information Warfare to Influence Elections
Eric Warren, Professional (PR & Media Relations), Fall 2019
In its report on Russian active measures campaigns to interfere with the 2016 US election, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence found that the Russian government conducted a comprehensive disinformation campaign against US election infrastructure that started in at least 2014 and carried through to 2017. While Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential campaign gained wide attention, Russia has a long history of disinformation campaigns targeting US elections, beginning in at least 1919. Furthermore, Russia’s contemporary disinformation efforts to affect internal political debate reaches beyond US borders and strikes within US allies’ and other nations’ boundaries. US NATO partners and nations throughout Africa have been the target of Russian interference through social media and Russian state-sponsored news organizations to create confusion and propagate tumult. The most effective response to countering Russian active measures rests with an integrated and holistic approach that incorporates efforts from across the US national security enterprise. Among these actors, the US Intelligence Community (IC) can take a key role in providing information and analysis for policymakers to better understand the Russian entities involved with disinformation operations, their modus operandi, and their fundamental motives.
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