Politics

American voters face an online propaganda crisis

Published

4 months ago

November 11, 2024

American voters face an online propaganda crisis

With Election Day fast approaching, disinformation efforts are everywhere. A Russian disinformation network pushed false claims of sexual abuse by Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, reports Wired. Foreign adversaries’ election interference efforts are “more active now than they ever have been,” says the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The U.S. intelligence community “expects foreign influence efforts will intensify in the lead-up to Election Day,” according to a memo issued Monday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

We are used to thinking of propaganda and disinformation through one lens: the far right. Stories around this subject have often centered around the alt-right movement that gained popularity in 2016, along with the Russian efforts to bolster Donald Trump’s rise. Indeed, at that time, that was by far the most pressing danger facing America online and beyond.

But in the past eight years, things have changed. Or rather, they have evolved.

What we are dealing with is extensive, all-encompassing and targeted at all of us.

Disinformation and online propaganda are skills that have now been perfected and adopted the world over by fascist and far-right governments. This means that we are no longer dealing just with Russia or the alt-right. What we are dealing with is extensive, all-encompassing and targeted at all of us. We are facing an online propaganda crisis like one we’ve never seen before.

As Russia has grown its influence operations since 2016, the internet has become an influence battlefield. One where pushing global opinions, sowing discord and chaos, and promoting antidemocratic thinking in democracies have become the tactics in a larger strategy among global powers to weaken their enemies, strengthen themselves, and transform the landscape in which future physical battlefields may one day take place.

Far-right movements are inherently oppositional and driven by maximalist ideologies, which means that while they may share certain characteristics — like nationalism, xenophobia and antiglobalism — their goals and strategies often clash. In essence, far-right movements are not a monolith, but a web of conflicting and cooperating entities, each using propaganda to further its own specific agenda while fighting both liberal democracies and rival authoritarian movements.

For example, the far-right movements in the U.S. focus heavily on anti-immigration and Christian nationalism, while Iran’s far right manifests through theocratic authoritarianism and anti-Israel rhetoric. These differences in ideology mean that far-right propaganda in the U.S. is vastly different from the far-right narratives in Iran or Russia, despite their shared opposition to liberal democracy.

Iran, for example, is targeting both the American left and right. U.S. intelligence assessments and researchers say that hackers linked to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted both presidential campaigns. An Iranian influence operation has created fake news sites that appear to be U.S.-based. One site has run op-eds such as “Why Harris’s Stance On Palestine Cost Her My Vote,” which are meant to create more internal division among the left, while another site was meant to appear as a right-wing news outlet based in Georgia and spreading anti-Harris propaganda. By using AI software, they have been able to expand the scope and productivity of their propaganda. Unlike Russia, which often focuses on specific political outcomes, Iran’s primary goal is to foster internal discord and erode trust in U.S. democratic institutions as a whole.

These countries are waging war between each other, and that we are all potential victims.

On the other end of the spectrum is Israel. According to The New York Times and Haaretz, the Israeli Ministry for Diaspora Affairs paid for an influence campaign aimed at lawmakers as well as young progressives in order to increase support for its war in Gaza. The campaign created sites to spread Islamophobia by focusing on the role of Muslims in slave trade in East Africa and increase discord around protests on college campuses by labeling some campuses as “safe” or “unsafe.”

More broadly, Israel’s information warfare has aligned with other far-right movements spreading propaganda that aligns with their position. Poland’s far right publication Visegrad 24 has spent the entirety of the Gaza war promoting Israel’s position, including collaborations with some of the most outspoken pro-Israel influencers. Visegrad 24, which has some connections to the Polish government, also exists as an anti-Russian propaganda outlet.

Similar operations by other countries and movements have been uncovered, from China to Venezuela to North Korea. In essence, what this means is that these countries are waging war between each other, and that we are all potential victims. When they can convince us to turn against each other or to spread antidemocratic sentiment, we become their digital allies, helping achieve their goals in destroying trust in democracy and increasing their global power. One only needs to see how some white nationalists have successfully positioned themselves as pro-Palestinian to see how successful these movements can become.

With the news that Russia has used some of America’s biggest far-right influencers to spread propaganda, we can see how extensive and effective these operations have now become among the biggest players. All of this means that we must arm ourselves with digital media literacy as well as constant vigilance about the information we gather online. Being liberal, progressive or centrist does not protect anyone from disinformation anymore. We are all both soldiers and targets on the digital battlefield.

Elad Nehorai

Elad Nehorai is a writer and marketer who specializes in antisemitism, extremism and their intersection. His writing can be found in the Daily Beast, The Forward and his newsletter. He is the organizer of XOutHate, a campaign of Jewish leaders calling for major advertisers to drop ads on X.

Politics

Andy Beshear hits Newsom for hosting Bannon on his new podcast

Published

13 hours ago

March 14, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear took a swipe Thursday at a fellow leading Democrat, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for hosting one of the most prominent figures in the MAGA movement on his new podcast.

Beshear, whose popularity in a heavily Republican state has turned him into a potential presidential candidate, told reporters that Newsom shouldn’t have opened his platform to Steve Bannon, an outspoken advocate of the “America first” agenda of President Donald Trump.

“I think that Governor Newsom bringing on different voices is great, we shouldn’t be afraid to talk and to debate just about anyone,” Beshear said at a Democratic policy retreat in Virginia. “But Steve Bannon espouses hatred and anger, and even at some points violence, and I don’t think we should give him oxygen on any platform, ever, anywhere.”

The criticism of Newsom, who is widely expected to run for president, amounted to what could be an early skirmish in the next Democratic primary. It also reflects divisions within a party trying to find its footing after Trump’s resounding victory.

The California governor recently launched the podcast, which appears to some degree to be an effort to find common ground with an ascendant conservative movement.

In his debut episode, speaking to Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, Newsom drew widespread attention — and criticism — for suggesting that Democrats were wrong to allow transgender athletes to participate in female youth sports. He was also critical of progressives who have called for defunding the police or who use the gender neutral term “Latinx.”

Newsom defended his approach and the Bannon interview in an email statement on Wednesday, saying it is “critically important” to understand Trump’s movement and how it successfully operated in the last campaign.

In the hour-long episode, Bannon repeated the debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen amid a discussion that also covered tariffs and taxes.

“I think we all agreed after the last election that it’s important for Democrats to explore new and unique ways of talking to people,” Newsom said.

A spokesperson for Newsom, who plans to have Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on his next episode, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Beshear’s remarks.

The Kentucky governor, who was a featured speaker at the retreat along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was not alone in criticizing the Bannon interview.

Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who was one of the few Republicans in Congress to challenge Trump, called it an “insane” decision to host Bannon.

“I am in shock at the stupidity of [Newsom] inviting Steve Bannon on his podcast,” Kinzinger said Wednesday. “Many of us on the right sacrificed careers to fight Bannon, and Newsom is trying to make a career and a presidential run by building him up.”

Politics

Top Illinois Democrat readies a Senate bid — and tells people she has major backing

Published

1 day ago

March 13, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

Ambitious Illinois Democrats are dreaming about Sen. Dick Durbin’s exit in 2026. The latest contender: the state’s lieutenant governor.

Juliana Stratton, who first took office in 2019, is quietly positioning herself for a Senate bid if Durbin bows out, calling key Democratic figures to ask for support, according to three people with knowledge of her plans, one of whom spoke with her directly and the other two who spoke with members of her team.

And she and her staff have said that she’s already secured the support of Gov. JB Pritzker, the three people said. They were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations and avoid political retribution. She and her team have made clear she expects Pritzker to be heavily involved financially, those people said.

“Juliana continues to keep an open mind about future opportunities, and if she does decide to pursue higher office, she’d be proud to earn the governor’s support while working to build a broad grassroots coalition,” said a spokesperson for the lieutenant governor, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Pritzker, a high-profile governor and potential 2028 hopeful, is already a prolific Democratic donor and party operator, and his vast personal wealth would be a significant boost to any candidate. His money and endorsement could transform the brewing shadow primary that includes several members of the state’s congressional delegation.

His team declined to discuss an endorsement or financial backing in any potential primary. “We’re not going to engage with hypotheticals for a seat that’s not even open,” said a person close to the governor’s political operation granted anonymity to speak candidly.

The governor hand-picked Stratton, then a state representative, to be his running mate in 2017 and he was a guest of honor last month at a fundraising event for her newly formed federal PAC.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton speaks to reporters as Gov. JB Pritzker, to her left, looks on with other state lawmakers in Chicago on Feb. 10, 2025.

Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel empire, could support that PAC as well as donate millions to any other super PACs supporting her campaign. That kind of financial support could make Stratton the front-runner in a primary that would essentially guarantee a spot in the Senate in the heavily blue state.

And if a Pritzker-backed candidate wins the race, it could help position him even more firmly as a major Democratic powerbroker, one whose influence could extend beyond Illinois political circles as 2028 approaches.

Durbin has served in the Senate since 1997 and while many Democrats expect the 80-year-old will retire, those close to him say he hasn’t yet decided.

In a brief interview Wednesday, Durbin acknowledged the lieutenant governor was among the Democrats who are preparing for his possible retirement: “She said if I run she’s not going to.”

Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi has been padding his campaign account for years for a possible Senate run. He had amassed $17.1 million by the end of 2024. His fellow Democratic Reps. Lauren Underwood, who flipped a GOP-held district in 2018, and Robin Kelly, the former chair of the Illinois Democratic Party, are also eyeing the seat.

And Illinois Democrats have made a parlor game of wondering what’s next for Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor who just returned from an ambassador stint in Japan. For now, he’s a commentator on BLN.