Information Warfare Watch No. 44

CHINA'S EXPANDING AFRICAN PROPAGANDA
The PRC is capitalizing on the Trump administration's shutdown of international broadcasting outlets like the Voice of America - by expanding its own media and messaging outreach. Africa represents a prime target in this regard. The Africa division of Chinese state broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN) has announced a planned expansion across all five regions of the continent, with the goal of "amplify[ing] African perspectives and strengthen[ing] Sino-African relations," CGTN officials say. The network "aims to reshape China's global image while empowering African voices in the international media landscape," says Cao Ri, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of CGTN. (The Sunday Standard, March 24, 2025)

MORE RUSSIAN DISINFO IN EUROPE
A new Russian-driven disinformation campaign is roiling Austria. Details of the scheme have been uncovered following the December detention of a Bulgarian woman suspected of being a Russian spy. As part of a search of the suspect's home, Austrian authorities uncovered evidence of connections to Russian intelligence dating back to 2022 when, in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, "a cell working for Russian intelligence was set up and planned a large-scale disinformation campaign in German-speaking countries, particularly Austria." According to the Austrian Interior Ministry, the group "was active online but also used stickers and graffiti with content such as far-right symbols and nationalist statements meant to look like pro-Ukrainian activists were responsible for them." (Associated Press, March 24, 2025)

QATAR IS SHAPING THE POST-ASSAD MEDIA ENVIRONMENT IN SYRIA
Qatar's state-backed television channel, Al Jazeera, has taken advantage of the opportunity created by the overthrow of the Assad regime to extend its reach – and its activist ideology – into Syria. The newly established government of HTS head Ahmed Al-Sha'ara has reportedly welcomed various training and media initiatives spearheaded by the network. In January, the Diplomatic Institute at the Syrian Foreign Ministry collaborated with the Al Jazeera Media Institute to host a joint session focused on promoting media relations between the two entities. Senior Al Jazeera representatives have reportedly participated in and hosted many of these initiatives, which have been attended by assorted diplomats and officials from the new Syrian regime. The channel's outreach arm, its Media Institute, has also "launched free courses across Syria as part of its Al-Jazeera Ambassadors program for empowering media talent across the world," the Middle East Media Research Institute reports. (MEMRI, March 24, 2025)

TAKING "COGNITIVE WARFARE" SERIOUSLY
China is pioneering the discipline of "cognitive warfare," an increasingly sophisticated method of warping information and public opinion. However, the practice is both distinct from information warfare and still poorly understood in the West, experts say. "Unlike information warfare, which manipulates what we think, cognitive warfare disrupts the way we think — rationality itself," writes Jake Webber of the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation. "It uses neuroscience, data analytics, and algorithm-based strategies to achieve strategic advantage."

"The tools and methods of cognitive warfare are not confined to the battlefield," Webber notes. "Advances in neuroscience are informing applications that influence everything from military decision-making to purchasing decisions and public opinion." Additionally, "[t]he digital ecosystem, once seen as a tool for democratization, has been co-opted to create polarization, mistrust, and social fragmentation." And "[b]ecause many of these social-media platforms are controlled by foreign adversaries, the very populations democracies depend on for communication may be contributing to their own destabilization."

In the face of this practice, increasingly ubiquituous in China and other adversary states, a new framework is necessary, Webber asserts. Such a framework will require international cooperation as well as serious consideration to how to "protect the privacy and autonomy of individuals in an environment where cognitive manipulation is persistent." (DefenseOne, March 19, 2025)

HOW MOSCOW IS MANIPULATING AI
Russian disinformation actors are exploiting artificial intelligence "chatbots" increasingly in use in the West and harnessing them to spread Kremlin propaganda, according to researchers. A new study by NewsGuard, a news tracking and reliability watchdog, details how an extensive propaganda initiative known as the Pravda network has worked to saturate large language models (LLMs) with pro-Kremlin narratives and messaging in a practice known as "LLM grooming."

The results have been striking. According to the NewsGuard study, a review of 10 leading LLM chatbots in use in the West found that they returned pro-Moscow messaging provided by the Pravda network more than one third of the time. "Massive amounts of Russian propaganda -- 3,600,000 articles in 2024 -- are now incorporated in the outputs of Western AI systems, infecting their responses with false claims and propaganda," it details. (Agence France Presse, March 10, 2025)