Protecting Americans from Russian Influence: Navigating the Polarity of Freedom of Speech and Security of Information

Abstract

The resurgence of a Russian Cold War tactic of spreading disinformation through social media threatens to tip the balance of a polarity between freedom and security. Analysis of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 provides valuable insight into the complexities of the issues for US political leaders and private social media elites tackling foreign threats against US interests on social media platforms. This paper examines three policy alternatives to address the threat of Russian influence operations (IO) online. The results reflect that a joint private and public collaboration can best achieve the strategic objectives in the detection, defense and deterrence of Russian disinformation online, and expanding the Global Engagement Center under the US Department of State was the strongest solution to balance the freedom-security polarity

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 29, 2021
Accession Number
AD1177998

Entities

People

  • Laura E Goulet

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cold War
  • Congress
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Department Of State
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Fake News
  • Freedom Of Speech
  • Governments
  • Information Operations
  • Intelligence Community (United States)
  • International Relations
  • Internet
  • Law
  • Media
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Political Systems
  • Propaganda
  • Public Administration
  • Scatterable Mines
  • Security
  • Social Media
  • Teamwork
  • United States

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Strategic Security Studies