Foreign Influence Operations

Foreign influence operations are efforts by other countries and their agents to shape American political life without going through open, lawful channels—spreading disinformation, running covert social media campaigns, funding front groups, or attempting to interfere directly with elections. The goal is usually to deepen social divisions, sway policy debates, or erode public trust in democratic institutions themselves.

Election security is one of the most visible fronts in this fight, since voting systems, voter rolls, and the flow of election information are all potential targets. Federal agencies work with state and local election officials to guard against tampering and to counter attempts by foreign actors to manipulate what voters believe about candidates or the voting process, an effort described in How the US Protects Elections from Foreign Interference.

Disinformation campaigns extend well beyond election season, targeting public opinion on foreign policy, social issues, and military matters year-round. Because this kind of propaganda increasingly moves through the same social media platforms Americans use every day, the military and intelligence community have had to develop new ways of detecting and countering false narratives without infringing on domestic free speech protections, a tension explored in Military vs. Disinformation: How America Fights Foreign Propaganda Online.

Legal and institutional responses also shape this space, including disclosure requirements for people acting on behalf of foreign governments and ongoing debate over how much authority intelligence and law enforcement agencies should have to monitor foreign-linked activity inside the United States. These questions sit at the intersection of national security and civil liberties, and they recur every time a new influence campaign comes to light.