Disinformation and malign influence are once again firmly established as weapons of choice for authoritarian regimes abroad and unscrupulous political forces at home. The challenge is felt by liberal democracies across the world but national approaches to mitigating the problem vary widely. This roundtable compares and contrasts approaches in Europe, North America and Australia, seeking best practice and transferrable lessons learned. It broadens the discussion from exclusive focus on disinformation carried by social media and considers other threat vectors including pernicious embedded forms of influence in academia, politics, the media, business and more.
Nina Jankowicz will share findings from her book, How To Lose The Information War, surveying a range of European countries and comparing their experience with that of the United States. Matthew Sussex will describe the approach followed by Australia establishing a Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce. The common factors faced on all three continents, as well as their differences, should hold lessons for defenders of democracy everywhere.
This event will be held on the record.
Participants
Matthew Sussex, National Security College, Australian National University
Nina Jankowicz, Disinformation Fellow, Wilson Center; Author, How To Lose The Information War
Chair: Keir Giles, Senior Consulting Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
