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The Threat of Deepfakes
Various AI technologies are ripe for use in disinformation campaigns. Deepfake videos represent an obvious threat, but voice cloning, deepfake images, and generative text also merit concern. And websites now offer access to deepfake services.
Jul 6, 2022
Essay
How to Avoid Extremism on Social Media
Extremist groups have been trolling the internet for decades, and they have learned to temper their words and disguise their intentions. A new scorecard can help users—or parents, or advertisers, or the social media companies themselves—understand when they might be interacting with extremist content.
May 3, 2022

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Project
Analyzing Election Disinformation Efforts
Foreign interference in U.S. politics has been a concern since the nation was founded. More recently, the U.S. Senate Committee on Intelligence presented evidence that Russia directed activities against election infrastructures and spread disinformation on social media during the 2016 presidential election.
Oct 20, 2020
Multimedia
COVID-19 and the Digital Divide: Inequities in Online Learning
RAND senior policy researcher Julia Kaufman explains how the digital divide impacted teaching and learning when schools closed last spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oct 16, 2020
News Release
Facebook Users May Spread Russian Propaganda Less Often When They Are Aware of Its Source
Russian propaganda is hitting its mark on social media—generating strong partisan reactions that may help intensify political divisions—but Facebook users are less apt to press the “like” button on content when they learn that it is part of a foreign propaganda campaign.
Oct 15, 2020
Report
Facebook Users May Spread Russian Propaganda Less Often If They Know Its Source
Russian propaganda is hitting its mark on social media, generating strong partisan reactions that help intensify political divisions. But Facebook users are less apt to press the like button on content when they learn that it is part of a foreign propaganda campaign.
Oct 15, 2020
Blog
Election Interference on Twitter, Insulin Prices, Remote Learning: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on evidence of interference in the 2020 election on Twitter, U.S. insulin prices compared to those of other countries, how parents can help their kids' education stay on track during the pandemic, and more.
Oct 9, 2020
News Release
Coordinated Efforts on Twitter to Interfere in the U.S. Presidential Election Are Likely Foreign
A coordinated effort on Twitter to influence the upcoming U.S. presidential election—using trolls (fake personas that spread hyper-partisan themes) and super-connectors (highly-networked accounts)—aims to sow distrust, exacerbate political divisions and undermine confidence in American democracy.
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
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
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
Commentary
Are Counter Violent Extremism Interventions Effective?
Government efforts to counter the propaganda and radicalization that lead to violent extremism are becoming more common around the world, but there's little research on whether such programs work. It is critical to conduct more research to tease out which programs are most effective.
Sep 11, 2020
Report
Countering Violent Extremism in Indonesia: Using an Online Panel Survey to Assess a Social Media Counter-Messaging Campaign
This report presents the results of an evaluation designed to assess the effects of countering violent extremism–themed social media content used in a campaign to promote tolerance, freedom of speech, and rejection of violence in Indonesia.
Sep 9, 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
Commentary
How You Can Fight Russia's Plans to Troll Americans During Campaign 2020
The goal of Russian interference is to trigger emotional reactions and drive people to ideological extremes, making it nearly impossible to build a consensus. But Americans are less likely to have their emotions manipulated if they are aware that manipulation is the goal.
Jul 14, 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

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Jonathan Cham

Policy Analyst

Jonathan Cham is a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. His areas of interest include Indo-Pacific security, defense security cooperation, wargaming, and space. At RAND, his portfolio of work includes economic analysis of the international space launch market, space security cooperation,…
Michelle Priest

Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Michelle Priest is an assistant policy researcher at RAND and a Ph.D. candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She has B.A.s in economics and linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles as well as an M.Phil. in policy analysis from Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research…

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