Subject: Blog Post on International Electoral Espionage
From: "Ken Wollack" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2017 12:58:27 -0500

I thought you would be interested in the following Blog
<https://www.demworks.org/international-electoral-espionage-political-warfare-it-violates-sovereignty-and-human-rights>
by NDI's Pat Merloe on efforts to subvert democratic elections through acts
of espionage.

With best regards,

Ken

Kenneth Wollack
President
National Democratic Institute
455 Massachusetts Ave., NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
202-728-5500 (Tel)
888-875-2887 (Fax)
email: [email-masked]
website: www.ndi.org

<https://www.demworks.org/#google_plus>
International Electoral Espionage Is Political Warfare: It Violates
Sovereignty and Human Rights
<https://www.demworks.org/international-electoral-espionage-political-warfare-it-violates-sovereignty-and-human-rights>
byPAT MERLOE <https://www.demworks.org/blogs/pat-merloe> in Washington, DC MAR
01, 2017
Elections <https://www.demworks.org/elections> All Regions
<https://www.demworks.org/all-regions>
<https://www.demworks.org/international-electoral-espionage-political-warfare-it-violates-sovereignty-and-human-rights>

*Photo credit: **Ronile
<https://pixabay.com/en/statue-of-liberty-new-york-ny-nyc-267948/>** on
Pixabay <https://pixabay.com/en/statue-of-liberty-new-york-ny-nyc-267948/>*

International electoral espionage is bigger than one election, one person
and one country. It is also bigger than elections themselves. It is a
direct threat to our democracy and to other countries around the globe.

The Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and
the National Security Agency issued a report
<https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf> describing concerted
Russian efforts to influence the US presidential election. The report found
that Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic
process while tipping the scales in favor of one candidate. It states that
these efforts were part of a broader campaign to subvert global democratic
structures, and it predicts that they will inform future campaigns
worldwide, including against US allies and their election processes.

These tactics are not new (ask Ukrainian or Georgian democratic activists),
nor is Russia the only perpetrator. The tactics employed against the US,
however, were escalated to new “weaponized” levels.

 When deployed against a country the aim is to distort political discourse
and cause disruption or destabilization, typically by exploiting societal
divisions and/or weaknesses in governance.  Such anti-democratic campaigns
use a combination of overt and covert tactics, including disinformation,
fake news, hacking and cyber-attacks, trolling, funneling money to
political parties and fringe elements, collecting compromising information
(“kompromat”) for purposes of blackmailing or discrediting targets,
assassinations, coup attempts and military aggression. These tools are part
of political “warfare” against democratization as a global force even when
they are directed against specific countries.

International electoral espionage is relatively inexpensive and easily
replicated in other countries, by other countries and to some degree by
private interests. Andres Sepulveda's confession
<https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-how-to-hack-an-election/> of how
he hacked Latin American elections illustrates that private political
actors can subvert the will of the people through cyber espionage. Plus,
false news, leaks and other disinformation are quickly picked up and spread
domestically (often by national trolls), just as international agents study
a country to hone their nefarious messages for easy replication. Domestic
and international agents are each other’s force-multipliers even if they
are not formally tied. However damaging private actors may be todemocratic
electoral integrity, state-sponsored electoral espionage is an affront at a
higher level.

Foreign espionage corroded the US electoral environment and affected the
electorate even if it did not ultimately determine the electoral result and
even if there was no direct manipulation of voter registries or results
tabulation (which are within the realm of future possibilities). It was
simultaneously interference in the most fundamental of internal affairs of
this country and a violation of the right of US citizens to freely choose
our head of state.

These points explain why every US citizen should condemn such
transgressions and demand that our government acts to prevent them here and
elsewhere. A trespass unanswered not only is a transgression tolerated, it
is an invitation to further trespasses in this country and beyond.
Electoral espionage not only was (and is) an offense against the government
of the US – it was (and is) a transgression against the citizens of this
country, where sovereignty resides. It violates the essence of the right of
self-determination, whereby citizens freely determine their political
status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
That collective right is realized through genuine elections that guarantee
the free expression of the will of the voters. International
electoralespionage,
therefore, is also a human rights issue.

The right to seek, receive and impart information (i.e., freedom of
expression) depends on being able to gain “real” information - otherwise,
the right to hold opinions without interference is abridged. The free
expression of the will of the electors is impossible without having
sufficient accurate information upon which to make an informed vote.
Flooding the environment with disinformation and otherwise harming or
helping candidates seeks to nullify the electorate’s will.

Hacking US campaign computers, feeding that stolen information into the
election environment and orchestrating disinformation, false news and other
negative, polarizing tactics were a combination of overt and covert actions
used to subvert the will of US voters. That is espionage.

However, there is more. Such authoritarian actions also aim to undermine
democratic norms and democratic governance globally. The "weaponization" of
such tactics as escalated and directed at the US election will undoubtedly
be deployed against other countries' sovereignty to destabilize and even
control them. These practices threaten electoral integrity internationally
and should be confronted as a challenge to international relations. There
are concerns that the upcoming elections in France,Germany and The
Netherlands are likely targets for floods of fake news
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/24/russia-targetting-european-elections-fake-news-eu-task-force/>
and
other political warfare tactics, as Central and Eastern European countries
have been. Other regions of the world are not immune to such subversion.

The US and other countries should renounce international electoral
espionage and build a strong consensus to address it. This is a matter of
right and wrong. It is also a matter defending democracy and with it
international peace and security.

There are some in this country and elsewhere who say the US cannot complain
because in the past it interfered inappropriately in the elections of other
countries. Examples offered are typically from 40 or more years ago, but
there is a more salient point.

Inaction is not moral strength or justice. It is only an invitation to
further transgressions.

The US and other democratic nations often support efforts of citizens in
other countries to participate in the political process, inform themselves
to make free electoral choices and engage in pluralist political
competition. For over 30 years now those endeavors have simultaneously
helped advance human dignity, peace and US interests. They have been
conducted openly and in response to calls for assistance. The United
Nations and regional intergovernmental organizations endorse and
participate in such efforts. That is not espionage; it is supporting the
freedoms of association and expression.

Put simply, there is no “moral equivalency” between advancing rights and
stiffening them or between helping people realize self-determination and
subverting it.

Having personally observed more than 50 elections around the world and
helped to draft the Declaration of Principles for International Election
Observation, I can say that the difference between democracy promotion and
political warfare campaigns is as clear as the difference between art and
pornography. “You know it when you see it.” In this case, when you see it
you should expose it and try to stop it.

Addressing international electoral espionage will require enabling citizens
to identify overt tactics of disinformation and false news and to obtain
genuine information needed to make free political choices.Research will be
needed to identify those population segments most likely to be vulnerable
to manipulation and gauge the impact of disinformation campaigns to inform
how its effects can be countered. Robust public education will be required
to inoculate against and counter political warfare campaigns.

Identifying disinformation campaigns will require media and election
monitoring, fact-checking/myth-busting, and significantly enhanced
traditional and social media strategies will be important in this respect.
In the private sector, social media platforms like Facebook and Google will
have to aggressively address identifying disinformation and take steps to
block purveyors of it. Plus, specialized capacities will be needed to
identify the sources of international electoral espionage and political
warfare more broadly.

Sensitive electoral processes will have to be safeguarded against hacking
and other covert actions – and opening electoral data for public
verification will be critical, because that prevents covert manipulation of
data and builds public confidence. Political finance information also will
need to be made transparent so that dirty money to Trojan
<http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/reports/kremlin-trojan-horses>
Horses
<https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/24/world/europe/intent-on-unsettling-eu-russia-taps-foot-soldiers-from-the-fringe.html?_r=0>
can
be more easily identified.

Replicating each of these capacities in all countries is not feasible,
which highlights the importance of building networks across borders and
sharing information, experiences and innovative techniques.

Even those actions, however, will not be enough. To defend and advance
democratic norms and principles of governance, democracy must deliver
improved human conditions – and populations must understand that is
happening. Governmental institutions will have to become more effective,
and corruption will have to be tackled in earnest around the globe.
Political parties will have to grapple with effectively messaging,
mobilizing and safeguarding votes garnered in light the increased threats
to electoral integrity. Barriers to citizen participation will have to be
removed, and citizens will have to demand accountability and progress, at
home and abroad. That will require active engagement in public affairs not
“professional inactivism”.

Awareness of international political warfare is increasing, though action
to expose and counter it lags far behind the task. Social media platforms
are beginning to face
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/technology/google-facebook-fake-news.html>
the
matter, and the World EconomicForum
<https://qz.com/889506/world-economic-forum-davos-fake-news-facebook/> set
up a multi-sector group that is relevant. The EU is to expand its small
taskforce
<http://www.dw.com/en/eu-expands-anti-fake-news-task-force/a-37265159>, and
the European Parliament recently passed a resolution
<http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20161118IPR51718/meps-sound-alarm-on-anti-eu-propaganda-from-russia-and-islamist-terrorist-groups>
on
countering hostile propaganda. The Czech Republic is setting up a unit
<https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/28/czech-republic-to-fight-fake-news-with-specialist-unit>
to
counter fake news. Media outlets are beginning to collaborate on their part
(e.g., CrossCheck
<http://www.thelocal.fr/20170228/can-could-fake-news-influence-the-french-election>
in
France and Firstdraftnews.org <http://www.firstdraftnews.org/>). The US
Congress passed the bipartisan Countering Foreign Propaganda and
Disinformation Act
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/effort-to-combat-foreign-propaganda-advances-in-congress/2016/11/30/9147e1ac-e221-47be-ab92-9f2f7e69d452_story.html?utm_term=.a8d486241685>,
which President Obama signed into law in late December. It modestly
enhances government agencies’ detection of disinformation addressed to the
US and elsewhere and provides a grant mechanism for journalists and citizen
groups in foreign targeted countries to identify and address the matter. It
is too soon to know whether or how the act will be implemented.
Implementation will need to be monitored.

Addressing international electoral espionage will require identifying
points of leverage that will punish and deter it – and mustering the will
to use that leverage. The failure to do so will embolden authoritarians
even further. While the considerable shortcomings of democratic governance
here and elsewhere must be vigorously addressed, democratic ideals must be
defended and promoted. Abandoning democratic norms and principles, rather
than fighting for them – leaving democratic allies and aspirants around the
world to fend for themselves, rather than strengthening our solidarity – or
embracing inaction by accepting arguments that authoritarian and democratic
methods are equivalent, rather than reading the long “arc of the moral
universe <https://www.nps.gov/mlkm/learn/quotations.htm>” and taking action
– will weaken this country and make the world a worse place. Democracy
makes it possible for the world to become more peaceful, prosperous and
just – and its defense requires strong efforts by us all