Disinformation: A Threat to Every Level of Diplomacy

BY IAN ROSENZWEIG

Ian Rosenzweig: 2024 Essay Contest Winner

In his intellectual explorations, Benjamin Franklin, the first diplomat of the fledgling United States of America, committed himself to truth. Franklin created “Junto,” a discussion group, “in the sincere Spirit of Enquiry after Truth, without fondness for Dispute, or Desire of Victory” (Canada). Franklin recognized the value of truth over personal benefit or gain. But today, truth is becoming elusive. In public life, biased media publish sensationalized content, and social media platforms allow unverified information – from deep fakes to fabricated “facts” – to gain traction. Artificial intelligence, too, has allowed disinformation and misinformation to infiltrate the public sphere. Beyond depriving global citizens of the United Nations (UN)-declared right to information, which is expressed in Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these disinformation tactics influence intergovernmental affairs. They allow nations to exploit each other and sow seeds of distrust. Accordingly, the UN is seeking to raise awareness about and combat disinformation. Disinformation is more than a danger to individual relationships between specific nations. It impacts every global conflict and major geopolitical challenge, from pandemics to immigration policy, and is therefore a pervasive diplomatic challenge itself. Diplomats can mitigate the damage that disinformation causes by ensuring truth in their dealings, promoting public trust-building initiatives, engaging in honest, principled efforts, and collaborating to take direct action against those who spread disinformation.

Some international disinformation efforts are targeted toward individual nations, creating public distrust, sowing division, and violating the fundamental expectation that nations be granted sovereignty over their land and people. Election interference provides a prominent example of disinformation efforts. The Russian Federation and its “Internet Research Agency” (IRA) are frequently cited for disinformation tactics used to interfere in other nations’ elections (Gerrits 4). According to a report from the Policy Department for External Relations of the European Parliament, the IRA “purchased around 3,400 advertisements on Facebook and Instagram during the US 2016 election campaign,” reaching millions of American voters (Colomina, Sánchez Margalef, and Youngs 15). The IRA is also presumed to be responsible for disinformation regarding casualties of the Russian war in Ukraine (Silverman and Kao). Other disinformation, although not necessarily of Russian origin, has been flagged in recent European democratic procedures, including the 2016 Brexit referendum and the 2016 referendum in the Netherlands on the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine (Gerrits 6). These matters, although originating in national elections, are relevant to the diplomats of the countries involved and to every global power, including the US. Ideologically, protecting democracy is one of the foremost priorities of the US and its foreign policy. Pragmatically, interference in election initiatives as contentious as Brexit has the potential to reshape international decisions and relationships, thus impacting every nation. And beyond election interference, disinformation campaigns have successfully impacted issues from public health to armed conflict, allowing one nation to dictate other nations’ actions by creating public unrest and pressuring governments (Guterres 2). Through preventing the spread of disinformation, nations preserve democracy and sovereignty and protect uninformed and vulnerable populations worldwide.

In addition to influencing national politics and their global impacts, disinformation also creates tension in international diplomatic relations. In 2017, a series of reports regarding apparent Qatari support for terror, including accusations of praise for Hamas and Iran and a ransom payment to al-Qaeda, led the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Arab League countries to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar and implement a blockade on the nation (Windrem and Arkin). Qatar referred to the reports, which Qatar claims were uploaded to Qatari news sites via a hack orchestrated by the UAE, as a “smear campaign,” and US officials reported that the accusations were “false” and “apparently planted” (Windrem and Arkin). NBC News reported that the campaign against Qatar was also an effort to damage relations between Qatar and the US – an effort which seems to have been successful given then-President Donald Trump’s signaled support for the blockade against Qatar (Windrem and Arkin; Wintour). Normal relations between Qatar and the group of Arab League nations did not resume until 2021 (Krasna). This crisis highlights how disinformation damages international relationships. Had the US not investigated the accusations of the “smear campaign,” its relations with Qatar could have deteriorated. Such a shift could have upended diplomatic dynamics in the middle east and incited significant foreign policy changes. Similarly, disinformation regarding crime and immigration in Sweden led to tensions between Sweden and the US in 2017, which could have further negatively impacted the US’s relations in the Nordic and Baltic regions (Fjällhed). Disinformation can cause such “butterfly effects” in international affairs – ramifications beyond initial intentions can arise from disinformation. Without fighting disinformation globally, the Foreign Service invites more, similar crises to arise, some of which may not be resolved without great harm to the US.

Although the fight against disinformation is urgent, it is a formidable challenge that cannot be addressed hastily. The UN has called for greater control and oversight of disinformation. A 2021 resolution passed by the General Assembly tied the fight against disinformation to treaties including the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminations (United Nations General Assembly 1). It then, among other clauses, “call[ed] upon States to counter all forms of disinformation through policy measures, including education, capacity-building for prevention and resilience to disinformation, advocacy and awareness-raising” and it requested that the Secretary-General “seek the views of States, United Nations entities and relevant stakeholders” and submit a report (United Nations General Assembly 4). In response, Secretary-General António Guterres released a report in 2022 in which he noted that “Any analysis of disinformation needs to be multifaceted” because disinformation wreaks havoc across initiatives is not confined to isolated issues (Guterres 2). His report raises elections, public health, armed conflict, minority rights, and climate change as examples of fields that disinformation can impact. Secretary-General Guterres further emphasized that efforts to mitigate disinformation must not infringe upon freedom of expression or allow oppressive regimes to further limit their citizens’ rights (2). His recommendations for solutions included platform transparency regulations, public information campaigns, ensuring media independence, and increasing media literacy initiatives, all while considering both state and non-state actors (17-19).

The existing UN action indicates a commitment to truth, and American diplomats are in a unique position to promote international acceptance of the UN's findings given the international influence of the US. Through actively and forcefully adhering to and promoting UN guidelines, ensuring that US diplomats are not engaging in dishonest diplomatic action, and providing American support for UN information campaigns, the United States Foreign Service creates a global environment that recognizes the gravity of the disinformation crisis. Given that disinformation can influence every single initiative to which the Foreign Service is committed, and given the moral leadership that the US has the capacity to express, it is imperative that US policy pursues truth not just internally but throughout its diplomatic dealings. The US must hold its allies to a standard of truth. Without a guarantee of truth, transparency, and international dealings free of disinformation, the US cannot claim its mantle of moral leadership.

While disinformation has become an even more pressing concern since the aforementioned UN resolution and report because of the rise of generative artificial intelligence, neither the UN nor the global community has taken firm action. Efforts have been limited to remediating damage and building institutional trust, not dismantling the systems that propagate disinformation. Individually, however, the US has been more proactive. Surrounding the 2018 midterm elections, US Cyber Command interfered with the disinformation campaigns of Russia’s IRA, sending warnings to its operators, disconnecting servers, and disrupting internet connection (Jensen). Although such perturbation may not disarm the IRA in the long-term or deter Russian disinformation campaigns, sustained and multilateral efforts – coordinated and agreed upon by diplomats – have the potential to subvert the disinformation industry in Russia and elsewhere.

The US is already engaging in international efforts, including a partnership with Bulgaria announced in September 2023, to counter disinformation (United States Department of State). But there is an open opportunity for an international treaty, that incorporates more than two countries, to join the ranks of past landmark UN actions like the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. Such an agreement would not only affirm the standards for public information campaigns and honest diplomacy outlined by the Secretary-General’s report but commit the international community to tangible and concerted work to combat disinformation. While the US alone disrupted the Russian IRA’s schemes, an alliance of nations would be able to more decisively and universally inhibit the spread of disinformation. The US Foreign Service has the chance to reignite the spirit of the US’s original diplomat, Benjamin Franklin, and prioritize truth before all else. With appropriate leadership, the war-torn and divided international community can unite against disinformation, which can derail any international effort, and cooperate to preserve good faith and truth, without which diplomacy cannot function.

Works Cited

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