U.S. Urges Firmer Action To Counter Russian, Chinese Disinformation

Washington D.C./07.10.23/Turan:   Countries from the Post-Soviet region, to Latin America, to Asia, and Africa are vulnerable to Russian and Chinese disinformation, according to a U.S. diplomat whose job involves exposing and countering foreign propaganda, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

James Rubin, coordinator for the U.S. State Department's Global Engagement Center, told TURAM during a briefing organized by the Brussels Media Hub that the future integrity of the global information space is "at risk" as every day the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Russia, other state actors distort the international information environment to their advantage.

"... I wake up every morning and I consider my battlefield, my field of engagement, to be Latin America, Asia, and Africa when it comes to the Chinese. That is where they are spending huge amounts of  money to try to dominate the information space. Europe has played a role because of Russia’s engagement – invasion of Ukraine, and Chinese repetition – remember, this is a choice to fully align itself in the information space," Rubin said.

In the meantime, he admitted that it’s "taken us a long time" to realize the net effect of the spread of democratization of the media. A recent State Department report highlights the PRC’s attempts to seek information dominance, as it is investing billions of dollars in the effort, using propaganda, censorship, surveillance, and diplomatic pressure, among other tactics.

"The first step in any problem is to recognize it... The reason we put these reports out, the reason why we spend so much time and effort in this extensive document is to show what a problem it is and why it’s more than just a problem.  It’s a national security issue, because when these issues are done by Russia, by China, the Chinese and the PRC, they can have an impact on national security," he said.

He went on to elaborate: "We’ve seen Russia and Russian entities try to interfere in Slovakia, and they may be having an effect on the political situation in Slovakia.  We’ve seen the effect that I’ve mentioned about the Ukraine war.  Those of us in this business find it hard to believe that in the so-called – well, let’s just say in Africa, Asia and Latin America, why is it so hard to convince governments and peoples that Russia invaded Ukraine and that there is a perpetrator and a victim? Why is it seen in this sort of neutral way?  Well, one of the reasons for that is for a decade or more the United States has been the subject of repeated information manipulation from Russia and China."

The special envoy stressed that every country “has the right to tell its story to the world, but a nation’s narrative should be based on facts. Russia and the PRC advance through coercive techniques and increasingly outright lies, as he put it.

Alex Raufoglu