Countering Adversarial Propaganda: Charting an Effective Course in the Contested Information Environment
Synopsis "Countering Adversarial Propaganda: Charting an Effective Course in the Contested Information Environment"
This hearing will focus on the challenges faced by the Department of Defense [DOD] and the Federal Government when dealing with the insidious propaganda and social media messaging coming from groups like Daesh, and from countries like Russia, China, and others. Not only do they recruit members, raise money, and sway the opinion of potential allies with this propaganda, but they sow doubt and dissension as a means of preventing or discouraging U.S. military action to protect American families. How can new techniques and concepts improve our ability to sense, detect, analyze, and respond to propaganda in the 21st century media environment? What policy changes impair our ability to realize the full potential of these new technologies and concepts? DOD has a long history of countering adversary propaganda and influence in order to further our national security objectives, and it has met with great success. Unlike World War II or in the 1980s, today's state and non-state actors disseminate their messages far and wide instantaneously, crossing multiple combatant command areas of responsibility and reaching audiences all over the world, including U.S. citizens. Unfortunately, time and distance are no longer on our side. This evolution of the information environment forces us to think about how to approach this issue. Should decisionmaking within the military chain of command be decentralized so efforts can be more effective in time and space? If so, how do we maintain oversight and synchronization of efforts? Further, how do we take into account privacy, freedom of speech, and other issues as they pertain to U.S. persons and nonadversaries in an environment without boundaries?
