{"id":24860,"date":"2018-08-01T17:37:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T17:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/01\/senators-ponder-how-to-counter-foreign-influence-operations\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:17:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:17:04","slug":"senators-ponder-how-to-counter-foreign-influence-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/cyber\/2018\/08\/01\/senators-ponder-how-to-counter-foreign-influence-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators ponder how to counter foreign influence operations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Senators wrestling with how to counter Russia and other foreign influence operations heard Wednesday from experts who said that not only did Russia continue its influence campaign after the 2016 presidential election, it \u201cstepped on the gas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts testifying before the Senate intelligence committee said Russia and other foreign actors are using high-tech means to manipulate social media and polarize Americans not only on elections, but on highly charged issues like race and immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/home\/2018\/08\/01\/leaked-chats-show-alleged-russian-spy-seeking-hacking-tools\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18213478070757.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Leaked chats show alleged Russian spy seeking hacking tools<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Six years ago, a Russian-speaking cybersecurity researcher received an unsolicited email from Kate S. Milton.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hearing comes a day after Facebook announced it had uncovered \u201csophisticated\u201d efforts, possibly linked to Russia, to manipulate U.S. politics. The company said it removed 32 apparently fake accounts on Facebook and Instagram, which were involved in \u201ccoordinated\u201d and \u201cinauthentic\u201d political behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While lawmakers have voiced outrage at the interference, they haven\u2019t yet figured out what the government can do to combat it. Facebook has resisted regulation over the years, and the Republican-led Congress has so far been reluctant to crack down on social media. A bill introduced by Democrats to regulate the way election ads are shown on social media has not moved in the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/home\/2018\/07\/31\/facebook-finds-sophisticated-efforts-to-disrupt-elections\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18212609060352.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Facebook finds \u2018sophisticated\u2019 efforts to disrupt elections<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Facebook stopped short of saying the effort was aimed at influencing the U.S. midterm elections in November, although the timing of the suspicious activity would be consistent with such an attempt.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The committee\u2019s Republican chairman, Richard Burr of North Carolina, said in his opening statement that those interfering through social media are trying to \u201cweaken our country from within\u201d and government must find a way to respond while also maintaining the rights of Internet users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHow do you keep the good, while getting rid of the bad?\u201d Burr asked. \u201cThat is the fundamental question in front of us, and it is a complex problem that intertwines First Amendment freedoms, corporate responsibility, government regulation and the right of innovators to prosper from their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moscow isn\u2019t interfering because it has political leanings to the right or left or because it cares about U.S. elections, but \u201crather because a weak America is good for Russia,\u201d Burr said, adding that the meddling goes far beyond elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe pertinent question now is \u2018What are we going to do about it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats have suggested different types of regulation, but haven\u2019t settled on one solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the committee, says Russia\u2019s successful attempts to hijack social media reveal the \u201cdark underbelly\u201d of social media platforms. Even after 18 months of study, he says the U.S. is only scratching the surface of Russia\u2019s information warfare campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think we need to start pushing ourselves beyond just recognizing the problem and start to push actual policy ideas forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">John Kelly, a social scientist and founder of Graphika, a marketing and analytics firm, testified that after the 2016 election, the Internet Research Agency, a Russia-based troll farm that has sowed discord in the U.S. political system, increased its use of fake accounts to drive dissension in American society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter election day, the Russian government stepped on the gas,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAccounts operated by the IRA troll farm became more active after the election, confirming again that the assault on our democratic process is much bigger than the attack on a single election.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey are targeting both sides of our political spectrum simultaneously, both before the 2016 election and right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said automated accounts at the far left and far right of the American political spectrum generate as many as 25 to 30 times the number of messages that genuine political accounts put out on an average day. This results in extremists&#8217; messages \u201cscreaming while the majority whispers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laura Rosenberger, who directs the Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States, said that while the focus has been on Facebook and Twitter, they represent only a segment of the activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Russian government and its proxies have infiltrated and utilized nearly every social media and online information platform, including Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, Tumblr, 4chan, 9GAG and Pinterest \u2014 flooding the information zone to target Americans,\u201d Rosenberger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said the Russian government also has manipulated search engines so that when a person searches for something connected with hot-button issues, Russia-linked websites carrying misinformation will be some of the first links to pop up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Todd Helmus, a behavioral scientist at RAND Corp., said it\u2019s important to identify Russian bot and troll accounts and track their activity in real time. Helmus said that will require advances in analytics so computers can distinguish between authentic social media chatter and influence campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said Russian propaganda should be tagged and suggested initiating media literacy training in American classrooms that could teach students to beware of foreign influence operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senators wrestling with how to counter Russia and other foreign influence operations heard Wednesday from experts who said that not only did Russia continue its influence campaign after the 2016 presidential election, it \u201cstepped on the 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