Page 21 - FCW, Sept/Oct 2018

As the federal government weighs how to fight foreign-backed disinformation campaigns, the choices it makes could have a profound effect on political discourse
BY DEREK B. JOHNSON
The
disinformation
game
The federal government is poised to bring new tools and strategies to bear in the fight against foreign-backed disinformation campaigns online, but how and when agencies choose to publicly identify such campaigns could have ramifications throughout the U.S. political ecosystem.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced in July that the Justice Department had created a task force to counter foreign influence efforts and signaled a more active role for federal agencies. The departments of Homeland Security and State have set up similar task forces or programs to counter “malign foreign influence operations” online and off-line.
Rosenstein framed the new efforts as a technology-focused update to the interagency task forces established by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s to counter Soviet propaganda campaigns that targeted Americans.
“Some people believe they can operate anonymously through the internet, but cybercrime generally does create electronic trails that lead to the perpetrators if the investigators are sufficiently skilled,” Rosenstein said.
The FBI and DHS already work with state and local governments on election security measures, provide threat briefings to the private sector and issue public indictments of hackers and troll factories associated with the Russian government. The State Department’s Global Engagement Center seeks to counter the propaganda efforts of terrorist organizations abroad. In 2016, it received a broader mandate from Congress to tackle state-sponsored disinformation operations.
September/October 2018 FCW.COM 17