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Combating Foreign Disinformation on Social Media

Jul 19, 2021

Disinformation campaigns on social media pose a nuanced threat. But much of the U.S. response remains ad hoc and uncoordinated. It's unclear who has the edge moving forward, because disinformation techniques and countermeasures are evolving simultaneously.
Commentary

Satellite Internet Services—Fostering the Dictator's Dilemma?

Apr 12, 2021

The ability to provide relatively low cost internet access outside of government control is both a challenge for authoritarian states and an opportunity for democracies. What are low-altitude, low-latency satellites and why are authoritarian states so concerned?

Explore The Internet

Report

Counter-Radicalization Bot Research: Using Social Bots to Fight Violent Extremism

As the online recruitment of violent extremist organizations grows, the U.S. government may benefit from promising emerging technology tools to rapidly detect targets of such recruitment efforts and deliver counter-radicalization content to them.

Oct 8, 2020
Report

Foreign Actors Are Again Using Twitter to Interfere with the U.S. Election

After the 2016 U.S. election it became clear that Russian agents had engaged in online efforts to sow chaos and inflame partisan divides among Americans. Interference is happening again now. It includes posts from trolls—fake personas spreading hyper-partisan themes—and superconnectors designed to spread messages quickly.

Oct 8, 2020
Multimedia

Russian Interference in the 2020 U.S. Election

RAND military sociologist Marek Posard describes several broad risks of foreign interference in American democracy and explains how Russia may use reflexive control theory to cause disruption in the 2020 U.S. Election.

Oct 1, 2020
Report

How Russia Targets U.S. Elections

In this campaign season, Russia might try to manipulate U.S. voters through social media as it did in 2016. New technologies have made these efforts easier. Russia's tactics aim to polarize Americans, create distrust, and paralyze the political process. What is the best defense against them?

Oct 1, 2020
Report

Schools Weren't Prepared for a Crisis Like COVID-19

Before COVID-19, less than half of U.S. public schools had a written plan for dealing with a pandemic. And only 38 states had publicly available school health emergency plans. How did schools' preparation affect their transitions to remote learning and principals' confidence in student achievement?

Sep 29, 2020
Report

The Digital Divide and COVID-19

Findings from a survey of U.S. teachers reveal how limited home internet access has been a barrier to providing instruction amid pandemic-related school closures. The problem is particularly acute among high-poverty schools.

Sep 24, 2020
Report

How China Uses Big Data Analytics

China's quest to become the global center for artificial intelligence starts with mastering big data analytics. Its aggressive strategy encompasses economic, military, police, and intelligence functions. Beijing is already using big data to survey the country's domestic population and enhance its military.

Sep 1, 2020
Commentary

Insider Threat at Twitter Is a Risk to Everyone

Three young hackers were charged in the hijacking of dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts. Their tactics point out how vulnerabilities at tech platforms can pose a risk to national security.

Aug 7, 2020
Commentary

Deadly Terrorist Threats Abound. Here Are the Key Dangers

Today's self-selecting solo terrorists answer only to their god, whether seeking to destroy all government, pursuing racial separation or genocidal goals, expressing sexual dissatisfaction, or simply wanting to leave their mark. Military operations are irrelevant. This is a deeper societal problem.

Jul 20, 2020
Blog

Online Shopping, Living in a Riskier World, Stress in Communities: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Americans' online shopping habits during the pandemic, living in a riskier world, how stress builds in communities, and more.

Jul 10, 2020
Report

Online Shopping: Many Americans' Habits Haven't Changed During COVID-19

Almost two-thirds of Americans haven't changed their online shopping habits since the pandemic began. About one-quarter are shopping online more, but 13 percent are actually shopping online less.

Jul 7, 2020
Blog

The Postal Service, Election Security, Reducing Child Deaths: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the role of the U.S. Postal Service, preparing for the presidential election, reducing child deaths in Nigeria, and more.

Jun 26, 2020
Commentary

A Machine Learning Approach Could Help Counter Disinformation

Disinformation has become a central feature of the COVID-19 crisis. This type of malign information and high-tech “deepfake” imagery poses a risk to democratic societies worldwide by increasing public mistrust in governments and public authorities. New research highlights new ways to detect and dispel disinformation online.

Jun 25, 2020
Report

Machine Learning Can Help Detect Misinformation Online

As social media is increasingly being used as a primary source for news, there is a rising threat from the spread of malign and false information. A new machine learning model identified differences between authentic political supporters and Russian trolls shaping online debates about the 2016 U.S. election. How could the model be applied in the future?

Jun 23, 2020
Report

Strategies for Countering Online Abuse

Digital platforms that let users interact virtually and often anonymously have given rise to harassment and other criminal behaviors. Tech-facilitated abuse—such as nonconsensual pornography, doxing, and swatting—compromises privacy and safety. How can law enforcement respond?

Jun 18, 2020
Multimedia

COVID-19 Briefing Series: A Crisis of Disinformation

RAND's Jennifer Kavanagh and Todd Helmus discuss the effect of the pandemic on public trust in important sources of information and institutions that provide information.

May 22, 2020
Article

What Americans Think of the News—and What That Means for Democracy

RAND researchers asked a nationally representative sample of adults about their news-consumption habits. The answers reveal clues about what it might take to address Truth Decay—the decline of facts in U.S. public life.

Apr 28, 2020
Report

What Digital Materials Do Teachers Use?

Digital materials for lesson planning and instruction are becoming an increasingly important resource for teachers. A survey of English language arts, mathematics, and science teachers across the United States provides insights on which materials they use and what they consider barriers to use.

Apr 16, 2020
News Release

Future Quantum Computers May Pose Threat to Today's Most-Secure Communications

Quantum computers that are exponentially faster than any of our current classical computers and are capable of code-breaking applications could be available in 12 to 15 years, posing major risks to the security of current communications systems.

Apr 9, 2020
Article

Quantum Computers Will Break the Internet, but Only If We Let Them

Quantum computers are expected to be powerful enough to break the current cryptography that protects all digital communications. But this scenario is preventable if policymakers take actions now to minimize the harm that quantum computers may cause.

Apr 9, 2020

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