How Russia Found a Disinformation Haven in America

The Mueller Report established that “the Russians” undertook information operations campaigns to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Though this has been clear for a long time, Americans continue to discuss Russian information operations in the wrong way. Russia’s disinformation strategy hinges on the fact that it is nearly impossible for people stuck in alternate realities with incompatible truth claims to undertake civil discourse. Their strategy would have succeeded if either Trump or Clinton had won and can only be countered by policy elites deeply questioning how “Russia” could better understand anti-establishment American discourse movements than American policymakers themselves. Expertly co-opting trends of political thought concerned with racism, sexism, LGBTQ+ issues and elitism long dismissed as “fringe,” the Russian campaigns drew from the digital advertising toolbox to troll epistemologically unstable and dissatisfied people across our political divide. Democratic systems must now take a foundational approach to countering state-sponsored information operations campaigns by addressing structural and intellectual weaknesses that leave populations vulnerable to online disinformation. This will involve tech sector regulation, infused with a hefty dose of suspicion about whether tech leaders are acting in good faith, as well as self-examination on the part of elites.