Party divisions will overshadow Angola elections

Significance The court ruled that Costa Junior had not relinquished his Portuguese nationality at the time of his election, as the constitution mandates. This has sparked a political crisis in the run-up to next year’s general election. Impacts Accusations of election meddling could compromise President Joao Lourenco’s international reformist credentials. Protests could become more violent and political instability could become an obstacle to economic recovery. Lourenco’s authority within the MPLA may be challenged from the inside, as military veterans see him as too weak to control UNITA.

Cyber tools have become critical to election meddling

Headline INT: Cyber tools become critical to election meddling

Trump, Mueller Investigation, and Alleged Russian Election Meddling: Russian Media Coverage in 2017-2019

The article analyses Russian media coverage of the charges of Russian meddling in the presidential elections in 2016, including the Mueller investigation and the publication of the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. The research utilizes content analysis of three daily newspapers and one official TV channel, with all the materials matching the relevant keywords being included in the sample. Several questions are discussed, including the following: all accusations in the presidential elections meddling are completely rejected, and the very existence of the accusations is attributed to several factors, such as U.S. internal political confrontation between Democrats and the Republicans, ongoing “Russophobia,” and general incompetence of American politicians and secret services. As a result Russian audiences are groomed to believe that all the accusations are completely false and should not be taken seriously. These accusations, however, are positioned by the media as belonging to a wider category of “fake news” and as such are portrayed as a threat not only to Russia, but to the global security in general.

US, EU leaders diverge on election interference risks

Headline INT: US, EU leaders diverge on election meddling risks

Conspiracy theories, election rigging, and support for democratic norms

Under what conditions does conspiratorial rhetoric about election rigging change attitudes? We investigated this question using a survey experiment the day before and the morning of the 2016 US presidential election. We hypothesized that exposure to conspiratorial rhetoric about election interference would significantly heighten negative emotions (anxiety, anger) and undermine support for democratic institutions. Specifically, we expected that Democrats who read conspiratorial information about interference by the Russians in US elections, and that Republicans who read conspiratorial information about interference by the Democratic Party in US elections would express less support for key democratic norms. Our evidence largely supported our hypotheses. Americans exposed to a story claiming the election would be tampered with expressed less confidence in democratic institutions, and these effects were moderated by prior partisan beliefs about the actors most likely responsible for election meddling.

National Cybersecurity Education: Bridging Defense to Offense

Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved the creation of a unified cyber command under the Obama Administration that was focused on cyber operations. This organization was to oversee the protection of government networks against cyber threats known and unknown. Coupled with growing attacks on national infrastructure, digital theft of intellectual property, and election meddling has the United States government actively working to develop cybersecurity talent. Some of the changes that have come as a result are more specialized degree program accreditation, technical frameworks, and policies to help usher this realization of the need to address the shortage of talent for today’s mission.

Election meddling will take new insidious forms

Subject Election meddling. Significance With elections due in the EU, Canada and Australia in 2019 and the United States next year, social media firms have made significant efforts to prevent further misuse of their platforms. These efforts are likely to be effective, and manipulation of the kind attempted between 2016 and 2018 will not re-occur. However, the nature of the adversary has changed. The platforms are at risk of preparing to re-fight yesterday’s battles. Impacts Containing the spread of harmful content via fringe platforms is a significant regulatory challenge. Governments may increase their reliance on offensive cybersecurity campaigns to contain foreign interference. Increased privacy on Facebook will make policing fake content harder as the platform will have restricted access to user content.