PUBLIC DIPLOMACY MAGAZINE Letter from the Editor He Malign Use of Information Is Not a New I Would Like to Thank the Entire Editorial Board for Practice
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SUBVERSIVE AND MALICIOUS INFORMATION publicdiplomacymagazine.com SPRING 2021 3 PUBLIC DIPLOMACY MAGAZINE Letter from the Editor he malign use of information is not a new I would like to thank the entire Editorial Board for practice. However, it is certainly on the rise. From making this publication possible and USC professors disinformation and misinformation to propaganda and Master of Public Diplomacy program co-directors Tand covert influence campaigns, nefarious actors Dr. Robert Banks and Dr. Jay Wang for their guidance worldwide have deployed such tactics for centuries to throughout the editorial process. I’d also like to thank achieve whatever their end goal may be. As the issue of Fabiana Teofan, the magazine’s Creative Director, for malicious and subversive information has gained even her hard work designing and digitally formatting this more traction over the last five years, the public has issue. Finally, thank you to our contributing authors for witnessed its ability to erode information spaces that your dedication to the magazine and its revision process are crucial for democratic processes and participation, over the past several months. Despite operating in a its deadly threat to public health, and the challenges it completely remote environment, with team members poses to public safety and civility. Additionally, given the working around the world, this magazine was truly a rise of digital technologies that encourage the easier, collaborative effort. more widespread dissemination of information, along with tools, such as artificial intelligence and algorithmic selection, that discourage critical thinking skills, information consumers around the world are inherently impacted, for better or worse. Personally, this issue’s theme is especially important to me. As someone in their early 20s, it seems as if subversive and malicious information has been a part of almost every significant juncture in my adult life thus far. In 2016, at just 18, the term and concept of fake news was front and center as I prepared to vote in my first U.S. presidential election. Fast forward to 2018 and 2019, fake news, disinformation, and misinformation were even more prevalent in international public dialogue. From U.S. congressional hearings that put social media CEOs in the content moderation hot seat to several news stories about governments clandestinely employing bott and troll farms to protect their political power, the topic was everywhere. And of course, throughout 2020 and 2021, the world witnessed subversive and malicious information’s dangers vis-à-vis the COVID-19 crisis and the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Public diplomacy teaches the value of active listening and the power of effective, truth-based communication. As such, while subversive and malicious information’s threats may seem insurmountable to adequately address, I hope this magazine sparks conversation among all stakeholders – whether they be government officials, policymakers, technologists, activists, researchers, educators, or students – and inspires them to deploy Maddie Masinsin listening and communication practices to devise innovative, multi-stakeholder solutions for the future. Editor-in-Chief 4 publicdiplomacymagazine.com SPRING 2021 SUBVERSIVE AND MALICIOUS INFORMATION Editorial Board EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FACULTY ADVISORY BOARD Maddie Masinsin Robert Banks, Co-director of USC Master of Public Diplomacy Program, Professor of Public DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL ADVANCEMENT Diplomacy, Annenberg School of Communi- Fatime Uruci cation and Journalism, University of Southern California CREATIVE DIRECTOR Fabiana Teofan Nicholas Cull, Professor of Public Diploma- cy, Annenberg School of Communication and STAFF EDITORS Journalism, University of Southern California Yiyan (Grace) Wang Jesús Fernández Jay Wang, Director, USC Center on Public Di- Yangchenzi (Zoe) Hou plomacy, Co-director of USC Master of Public Matilda Jarvis Diplomacy Program Carter Rice STAFF WRITERS Aly Hill Desmond Jordan STAFF WRITERS Dilara Erezhepova INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD Sean Aday, Director, Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication; Associate Professor of Media, Public Affairs, & International Affairs, George Washington University Simon Anholt, Editor Emeritus, Journal of Place Branding & Public Diplomacy Willow Bay, Dean, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, USC Geoffrey Cowan, Professor, Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership, USC Harris Diamond, CEO, McCann Erickson Pamela Falk, Foreign Affairs Analyst & Resident UN Correspondent, CBS News Kathy R. Fitzpatrick, Professor, School of Communication, American University Eytan Gilboa, Professor of International Communication, Bar-Ilan University Howard Gillman, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, University of California, Irvine Guy Golan, Associate Professor of Public Relations/Public Diplomacy, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University Cari Guittard, Principal, Global Engagement Partners; Adjunct Faculty, Hult IBS & USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism Markos Kounalakis, President & Publisher Emeritus, Washington Monthly William A. Rugh, U.S. Foreign Service (Ret.) Crocker Snow, Edward R. Murrow Center for Public Diplomacy, Tufts University Nancy Snow, Professor Emeritus, California State University, Fullerton; Pax Mundi Professor of Public Diplomacy, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies; Media and Public Affairs Advisor, Langley Esquire, Tokyo Abiodun Williams, President, Hague Institute for Global Justice DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opin- ions of Public Diplomacy Magazine or USC. publicdiplomacymagazine.com SPRING 2021 5 PUBLIC DIPLOMACY MAGAZINE Table of Contents INFORMATION OVERLOAD: GLOBAL TRENDS: WHEN FROM FOUNDATIONS TO PROPAGANDA BECOMES IMPLEMENTATION POLICY What Iran gets Wrong About Disinformation Disinformation Getting Beyond the Botts and Trolls 13 09 The Re-branding of Confucius Institutes in the Face of Bans and its Impact on China’s Soft 16 Power Strategy . Platformizing Digital Public Diplomacy Strategy: How China’s Media Combats Misinformation 20 and Disinformation Inside Out: How Misinformation in Myanmar Transformed from Facebook Posts to Official 24 Government Policy 6 publicdiplomacymagazine.com1 SPRING 2021 2 SUBVERSIVE AND MALICIOUS INFORMATION Table of Contents GLOBAL TRENDS: WHEN PEACE AND PARTNERSHIP PROPAGANDA BECOMES IN THE INFORMATION AGE POLICY (cont.) Instigated on Facebook: Disinformation as the “Our Candidate is Democracy” Securing Greatest Security Threat in the Digital Age Democratic Elections as an Instrument of 28 . 43 Public Diplomacy , Misinformation in the Global South is Becoming Response to COVID-19 misinformation: how 31 an International Export 46 can each social sector effectively deal with it? Misinformation in the Global South is Becoming The Human Element 34 an International Export 50 , When Propaganda Comes Home Schools and Caretakers’ role in combatting 37 , 54 malicious information Historical Comparison of Falsely Reporting Why the World Needs US Leadership on 39 People of Color to Police 58 Developing Cyber Peace Goals 2 3publicdiplomacymagazine.com SPRING 2021 7 INFORMATION OVERLOAD: FROM FOUNDATIONS TO IMPLEMENTATION SUBVERSIVE AND MALICIOUS INFORMATION Disinformation: Getting Beyond the Botts and Trolls Scott W. Ruston n the 21st century security environment, information Understanding that disinformation is not primarily about warfare campaigns use propaganda and disinformation truth or lies reveals why countering disinformation to assault citizenries’ political will, manipulate public with facts has only limited success (consider that The Iopinion, and erode socio-political institutions—all of Washington Post identified 30,573 false claims made which contribute to the fundamental fabric of democracy. by former President Trump in his four years in office, While this phenomenon is not new or isolated to the 21st with no appreciable effect on belief in his claims by century, technological advances and societal changes his followers2). Approaches to understanding the have dramatically accelerated information exchange. origins, spread, and impact of disinformation cannot be These technological changes have taken center predicated on an assumption of universal truths or even stage with much attention on social media platforms facts but rather through human communication and and the exploitation of their algorithms by bots and information processing mechanisms. trolls. Reducing disinformation to a primarily technical problem, however, overlooks the goals, vectors, and It’s all about the bots targets of disinformation campaigns. Responding to the threat of disinformation poses significant challenges: Another misconception is that the problem of misconceptions abound and stove-piped approaches disinformation is exclusively a modern problem of tilted towards detection and interdiction impede technological information acceleration. Or put another more scalable solutions built on societal resilience. way it’s a problem of bots—but it is far more than that. Unpacking misconceptions and introducing promising Whereas bots and other large-scale manipulations of research efforts to detect, understand, and characterize social media platforms are an important part of the disinformation campaigns can give public diplomacy problem, they do not tell the whole story. A consequence practitioners and students