Increasingly, NATO countries have begun to describe digital media disinformation not as a discrepancy in communication between formal and informal state actors, but as a risk to national security. This shift is reflected in the Cyber Threat Assessment for Canada 2025, which notes that foreign state actors are using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate information, Read More…
In this feature of the Editor’s Forum, the program editors at the NATO Association weigh in on whether banning Donald Trump from Twitter was the right decision.
Thirty years after the “Satanic Verses” controversy, the transnational threat to freedom of speech and the press is more acute than ever. The recent murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi – likely orchestrated by Saudi Arabia – is a case in point. So far, the pressure has been on Washington to punish Saudi Arabia, but Justin Dell argues that this issue is too combustable to be left to bilateral relations. What is needed is a broader multilateral approach, first to holding Saudi Arabia responsible for Khashoggi’s murder, and then to uphold the universal values of freedom of speech and expression. Only then can some kind of justice be obtained without risking the further destabilization of the Middle East.
Buzz Lanthier-Rogers explores the problem facing both Malaysia and the world at large: whether to accept the perceived danger of freedom of expression, or the safety of censorship.
How did Russia learn to use the Internet to strengthen authoritarianism? Benson Cheung interviews Ilya Maslyanskyy about how Russia learned to use threats, trolls, and Twitter bots to control the Internet since 2011.
Eimi Harris discusses how a changing relationship between governments and social media firms could lead to new strategies for combatting extremism online.