Politics

American voters face an online propaganda crisis

Published

2 years 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

Cruz and Blackburn meet Trump to discuss tech policy

Published

6 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Cruz and Blackburn meet Trump to discuss tech policy

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Politics

South Carolina Senate poll shows surprising frontrunner: Trey Gowdy

Published

7 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former Rep. Trey Gowdy insists he’s not interested in running in the South Carolina special election. But a new poll suggests Gowdy would be formidable if he changed his mind.

Gowdy holds a massive lead over seven other potential and declared GOP candidates for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s seat, according to a poll from Republican-aligned firm Peak Insights that was obtained by POLITICO.

Gowdy draws 38 percent of the vote. The actual candidates in the race are bunched closely, with no clear frontrunner: Rep. Ralph Norman trails at 13 percent support, followed closely by both Rep. Russell Fry and Sen. Darline Graham, Lindsey’s sister who is running for a full term after being appointed, who both sit at 9 percent. Businessman Mark Lynch, a self-funder who lost a Senate primary to Graham last summer, pulls 7 percent support. The survey of 900 likely GOP primary voters for South Carolina’s special election was conducted before anyone formally entered the contest.

The election will be a test of Trump’s power. He endorsed Darline Graham last week, but that hasn’t stopped other prominent South Carolina Republicans from jumping in the race, all of them touting their loyalty to the president — despite not having his formal support.

And at least according to the poll, his endorsement doesn’t shift things much. When respondents are informed that Trump “asked Darline Graham Nordone to run in the special election for U.S. Senate, saying if she runs, she has his complete and total endorsement,” Graham’s support improves from 9 percent to 16 percent, and Gowdy falls from 38 percent to 35 percent.

The poll is a sign of why some prominent Republicans — like his longtime friend, Sen. Tim Scott — may want Gowdy in the race. Peak Insights has polled for Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, as well as the NRSC and the Republican National Committee among many others.

Gowdy left the U.S. House in 2019 and now hosts a show on Fox News. Through a spokesperson, he said he “has not had any conversations about the open senate seat and does not have any interest in it.”

That hasn’t stopped Scott from pushing his longtime buddy to run. Scott advocated for Gowdy to be appointed to the vacant Senate seat after Lindsey Graham’s death, before South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to the seat. Scott announced last week he was recruiting Gowdy to run in the special election, before Graham announced she would run.

“I can’t think of a better person that I think best represents the heart of South Carolina than Trey Gowdy,” said Scott during a press conference Wednesday. “I’m trying to get him interested in it, but we’ll see if that works out at all.”

Scott and the NRSC have not yet issued an endorsement in the special election. Scott praised Graham during a Fox News interview Monday, saying she is “strong so far, calm under pressure, and really poised.”