Student Testimonial
To Whom it May Concern,
My name is Joseph Mulholland, I am a student at Georgetown University studying Policy Management. I am writing this letter because I am concerned about foreign malign operations in the U.S. information environment.
For years, the Russian government has worked hard to try to stir societal discord in the U.S (1, 2, 3, 8). Russia has proven it can orchestrate physical political activity in the United States through abuses of information. As of 2018, Russian agents had successfully organized protests in at least three different American cities (9). On July 10, 2016, Russian agents facilitated two different rallies, one in support of Philando Castile, a Black American killed by police, and the other, a “Blue Lives Matter” rally, held in support of the police10. They intended to get media coverage on both events, likely to highlight division in the U.S. In another instance of covert Russian organizations catalyzing American action, a Russian-controlled social media account organized a pro-Muslim and an anti-Muslim protest on the same day, time, and location in Texas (2, 4, 5, 6). Thankfully, it appeared that these protests did not devolve into violence. However, given that verbal altercations between both groups did occur, it is not a stretch of the imagination to see how they could have. Russian-controlled social media organizations took advantage of real events or existing sentiments to influence Americans’ behavior.
Russia is not alone in its efforts to sow societal discord in America. The Chinese and Iranian governments support information operations in the U.S. as well. The Chinese government supports a network called Spamouflage, that Meta, in August 2023, said was the, “largest cross-platform influence operation disrupted to date” (7). Iranian agents pretended to be anti-Israeli activists on social media and tried to inspire protests from that role (11). They have even sent money to protesters in America. While their operations seem to be less effective than Russia’s, they will likely continue to grow.
President Trump recently signed an executive order that is intended to support freedom of speech for Americans (12). My concern is that this executive order will lead social media platforms to exert significantly less effort in searching for and moderating foreign malign information operations. Foreign actors often pretend to be Americans. There is a difference between Freedom of Speech, and freedom for a foreign malign actor to incite societal instability. I cannot legally yell “fire!” in a crowded movie theater, when I know there is no fire, in the hopes of creating a panic. We should hold foreign malign actors to the same standard.
Many nonprofit organizations are working hard to study foreign malign information operations and expose them. I ask that, as a prospective donor, you consider supporting a nonprofit doing such work, as federal funding may begin to dry up.
Sincerely
Joseph Mulholland
Student, McCourt School of Public Policy
Georgetown University
Sources
1. Philip Ewing, “Russians Targeted U.S. Racial Divisions Long Before 2016 and Black Lives Matter,” NPR, October 30, 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/10/30/560042987/russians-targeted-u-s-racial-divisions-long-before-2016-and-black-lives-matter.
2. Zach Dorfman, “Why Russia will keep poking America’s racial wounds,” Axios, June 10, 2020, https://www.axios.com/2020/06/10/russian-interference-2020-election-racial-injustice
3. Philip Ewing, “Foreign Interference Has Bedeviled D.C. For Decades, With No Easy Response,” NPR, October 29, 2017, Foreign Interference Has Bedeviled D.C. For Decades, With No Easy Reponse : NPR
5. Donnie O’ Sullivan, “Russian trolls created Facebook event seen by more than 300,000 users,” CNN, January 26, 2018, Russian trolls created Facebook events seen by more than 300,000 users (cnn.com)
6. Claire Allbright, “A Russian Facebook page organized a protest in Texas. A different Russian page launched the counterprotest,” November 1, 2017, A Russian Facebook page organized a protest in Texas. A different Russian page launched the counterprotest. | The Texas Tribune
7. Ben Nimmo, Mike Torrey, Margarita Franklin, David Agranovich, Margie Milam, Lindsay Hundley, and Robert Flaim, “Second Quarter Adversarial Threat Report,” web.archive.org, (Meta, August 2023), page 4, accessed December 10, 2024, Wayback Machine (archive.org)
8. William J. Aceves, Virtual Hatred: How Russia Tried to Start a Race War in the United States, 24 MICH. J. RACE & L. 177 (2019). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol24/iss2/2
9. Sheera Frenkel, “How a Fake Group on Facebook Created Real Protests,” The New York Times, August 14, 2018, How a Fake Group on Facebook Created Real Protests - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
10. Maya Kosoff, “How Russia Secretly Orchestrated Dozens of U.S. Protests,” Vanity Fair, October 30, 2017, How Russia Secretly Orchestrated Dozens of U.S. Protests | Vanity Fair
11. David Klepper, “Iran encourages Gaza war protests in US to stoke outrage and distrust, intelligence chief says,” The Associated Press, July 9, 2024, Iran encourages Gaza war protests in US to stoke outrage and distrust, intelligence chief says | AP News
12. The White House, “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship,” January 21, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-freedom-of-speech-and-ending-federal-censorship/
