Online campaigns of disinformation and misinformation continue to evolve rapidly worldwide. Emerging from a relatively crude set of tactics in the early 2000s, these efforts have evolved to become more multifaceted, challenging to detect, and ambitious in their objectives. These trends are set to continue as a range of states and non-state actors continue to invest in and hone these techniques going forward.
How can and should governments manage this quickly changing landscape? What challenges do democracies uniquely face in this strategic environment? What are the existing short term gaps, and what should the long-term strategy be?
This talk by Mr Tim Hwang offers a review of the current state of play, and proposes a framework for thinking about government objectives and action in the space. First, he will review emerging trends in the deployment of hostile information campaigns, looking at how these threats are poised to change over the next five years. Second, he will discuss gaps in the existing efforts by states, companies, and civil society, and the vulnerabilities that currently exist. Finally, he will identify a strategic framework for thinking about the information landscape, and a set of concrete technical and regulatory responses that could improve defensive prospects and countermeasure effectiveness in the space.
