It’s not just the presidential election. Foreign governments are targeting House and Senate members across the country in an attempt to interfere with American democracy in this election, intelligence officials warned Monday.
RussiaBoth China and Cuba have launched influence operations designed to help or harm candidates in certain congressional elections. Without specifying how many ethnic groups would be affected, a national intelligence official said Monday that all three countries had focused on ethnic groups where national security interests were believed to be at stake.
Warnings from intelligence agencies come out under special circumstances. Fierce battle over the House of Representatives and the SenateControl may be determined by a small number of races. While much attention has been focused on the attempts of foreign enemies, Influence the presidential raceMonday’s warning highlights the threat online disinformation poses even at state and local conventions.
Leaders in Russia, China and Cuba understand the U.S. political system well enough to recognize that this year’s impending elections create favorable conditions for the use and spread of disinformation, the reporter said, speaking on condition of anonymity under rules established by the State Department. The official briefing the group said: supervision.
Foreign adversaries have also targeted some races farther down the ballot, including statewide offices and state legislative campaigns, officials said.
Moscow’s goal is to undermine support for parliamentary candidates who favor supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia. Officials did not say which candidates were targeted, but the Kremlin’s efforts are likely intended to cause harm. Democrats and moderate Republicans have supported Ukraine.
China has targeted candidates from both parties based on their positions on issues key to Beijing, including their support for Taiwan. Officials said they have seen China’s disinformation agency focus on candidates from “dozens” of ethnic groups.
The Cuban government conducted a narrower campaign to increase its pool of candidates. prefer a better relationship with the island, including reducing economic sanctions.
Influence campaigns may include false or exaggerated claims and propaganda designed to mislead voters about a particular candidate, issue, or race. It may also include social media posts or other digital content that seeks to suppress voting through intimidation or by providing voters with false information about the election process.
Influence campaigns that foster distrust and division, along with cyberattacks on election systems, Significant threats facing the 2024 electionsnational security official said.
State and local officials invested heavily to secure the vote last week, Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told The Associated Press. No way A foreign enemy can change the entire outcome.
Disinformation can be a more difficult threat to quantify. Foreign enemies create networks of fake websites and social media accounts that mimic those of Americans and then work to amplify divisive and inflammatory claims about controversial debates such as: immigranteconomy or Federal Response to Disaster.
Officials in Russia, China, Iran and Cuba have all dismissed accusations that their governments are trying to interfere with the U.S. election, despite signs that the use of disinformation designed to influence the outcome of this year’s election is increasing.
When foreign governments target specific candidates, offices, or organizations with election intelligence, intelligence officials often provide defensive briefings. ODNI doesn’t say how many defense briefings it has delivered so far this election cycle, but says the number is three times higher than in previous cycles.
In the presidential race, intelligence officials concluded the following. Russia supports Trumpwho criticized Ukraine nato alliance Praising Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was assessed that China was taking a neutral stance in the primary race between Republican former President and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Intelligence officials say Iran’s opposition to President Trump’s re-election makes him more likely to escalate tensions between the United States and Tehran. trump administration Nuclear negotiations with Iran endedSanctions were reimposed and orders issued. Iranian General Qasem Soleimani killedActions that prompted Iranian leaders swear revenge.
transmission Federal authorities have charged three Iranian men. Suspicions have been raised that Iran was involved in hacking the Trump election campaign. Iran later provided the data to Trump’s Democratic opponents, but no one responded.
Officials said as of Monday they had seen no indication that Iranian disinformation was targeting the 2024 voting race.
