Foreign Influence Operations and Disinformation

Overview

CISA reduces risk to U.S. critical infrastructure by building resilience to foreign influence operations and disinformation.  Through these efforts, CISA helps the American people understand the scope and scale of these activities targeting election infrastructure and enables them to take action to mitigate associated risks.

CISA's Role

CISA helps the American people understand the risks from foreign influence operations and disinformation and how citizens can play a role in reducing the impact of it on their organizations and communities. This work is done in close partnership with the interagency, private sector, academia, and international stakeholders.  

Guiding Principles

The guiding principles for addressing risk from foreign influence operations and disinformation include the protection of privacy, free speech, and civil liberties. CISA works with its Privacy Office and Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to ensure these principles are reflected in all of its activities.

We are also committed to collaboration with partners and stakeholders. In addition to civil society groups, researchers, and state and local government officials, we work in close collaboration with the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, and other agencies across the federal government. Federal Agencies respective roles in recognizing, understanding, and helping manage the threat and dangers of foreign influence operations and disinformation activities on the American people are mutually supportive, and it is essential that we remain coordinated and cohesive when we engage stakeholders.

Terms to Know

Some tactics of foreign influence include leveraging misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.  Definitions for each are below.

• Misinformation is false, but not created or shared with the intention of causing harm.
• Disinformation is deliberately created to mislead, harm, or manipulate a person, social group, organization, or country.
• Malinformation is based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.  An example of malinformation is editing a video to remove important context to harm or mislead.

Foreign actors use misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation campaigns to cause chaos, confusion, and division. These malign actors are seeking to interfere with and undermine our democratic institutions and national cohesiveness.