by Giuseppe Gagliano –
The initiatives of intelligence and various departments are multiplying to counter the disinformation of those who, considered “enemies”, oppose US global hegemony. On May 26, US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken gave the State Department a central role in countering North Korean disinformation. This means that the State Department will manage the fight against North Korean disinformation, in addition to the Chinese one that already fights through a specific unit called Countering the People’s Republic of China Malign Influence Fund. Both the work to deal with North Korean and Chinese disinformation are coordinated by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) headed by James Rubin, a diplomat and former journalist who was Biden’s Senate adviser.
US activism in this area should come as no surprise since countering disinformation is now one of the US’ top priorities, as evidenced by the fact that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report last month on the so-called digital authoritarianism, which was the fruit of the work of the National Intelligence Council (NIC). This report, written last October, puts the spotlight on the development of digital repression tools by authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia. The NIC points out the risks of these methods not only being used internally, but being exported and negatively impacting access to information elsewhere.
Returning to the State Department, it will have the mission of identifying new technological tools, including offensive tools, in collaboration with the private sector, to circumvent North Korean censorship. It will seek both to counter North Korean disinformation agencies and to facilitate access to the North Korean population of alternative sources of information, i.e. beyond state propaganda. However, it should not be forgotten that China continues to be seen by the United States as the main threat to freedom of information due to its technological capabilities.
