This week on the Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss the re-writing of Russian history textbooks; the convergence of Russian and Chinese information operations; the latest on a Russia-aligned, AI-fueled campaign known as "Operation Overload"; the use of AI for fact-checking; how to address misinformation without defaulting to censorship; and the age of the American "scientific refugees."

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This week, Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson welcome Valentin Chatelet, a research associate at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, for an urgent discussion of the Pravda Network--a Russian information operation using an AI-powered network of websites to warp target populations' understanding of the war in Ukraine and other issues. They also discuss a troubling example of America's unilateral disarmament in the information space aimed at North Korea as well as the impact of AI on democracy around the world.

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As protests swirl in Los Angeles and spread to other American cities, Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss the ways in which foreign adversaries always seek to exploit the divisions in American society. They also review the lessons learned from the 2024 European elections; the urgency of information literacy to meet the challenges posed by foreign malign influence campaigns; and Russian efforts to target Poland and French-speaking Africa with information campaigns that rely on fear, intimidation, and Western fecklessness to succeed.

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This week, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss reports that the United States is poorly prepared for China's enhanced ability to conduct cognitive warfare, even while India warns its citizens to avoid using the TikTok-refugee platform of choice in the United States: Chinese-owned RedNote. They then turn their attention to reports of synthetic media impersonating Pope Leo XIV while Target deals with a campaign to amplify criticisms of its policy shift around DEI programs. Finally, the hosts discuss reports that much of the UFO mythology of the last 80 years grows from U.S. disinformation campaigns to protect legitimate national security secrets.

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This week, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss the role disinformation played in the recent surge of violence between India and Pakistan; review the way both U.S. AFRICOM and the People's Republic of China are adapting to changes in the American tool-box brought about by the Trump administration; look at what changes in content moderation at Meta mean for fighting disinformation as well as the role of AI in disinformation detection. They wrap with a discussion of the threat to Russia posed by the American cartoon ogre known as Shrek.

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This week, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson interview VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara on the Trump administration's efforts to silence the Voice of America and what the loss of that capability means for both U.S. national security and the global audience that has come to rely on VOA for independent journalism. They also review reporting on China's growing efforts to gain influence in the Western hemisphere as well as proposals to better organize the U.S. government for information warfare.

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Russian campaigns again dominate this week's episode with hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson recapping the best reporting on the Russian Pravda network, a campaign known as "Overload," and Russian ties to neo-Nazis. Along the way, they consider why Russia might target small-population languages, and discuss the hard-learned wisdom of Latvia who has long endured Russian information campaigns.

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This week, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson welcome McKenzie Sadeghi and Isis Blachez from NewsGuard to discuss their research on Moscow's Pravda-network, the rise of 'LLM Grooming,' and the infection of AI tools with Russian-sponsored disinformation. The show also reports on a Russian-campaign to deepen tensions between Denmark and the United States over Greenland; the impact of Trump administration policies on Taiwan and U.S. security competition with China; as well as the growing sophistication of AI; and the failure of technology companies to equitably meet the needs of marginalized communities.

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