How authoritarian states sculpt a warped alternative reality in our news feeds

By Aiden Hoyle, Assistant Professor in Intelligence and Security, Institute for Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University

When we talk about disinformation – the intentional spreading of misleading information – we usually picture blatant lies and “fake news” pushed by foreign governments. Sometimes the intention is to sway voters in elections, and sometimes it’s to sow confusion in a crisis.

But this is a somewhat simplified version of events. In fact, authoritarian countries, such as Russia and, increasingly, China, are engaged in continuous and more…

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