Looking East: Third Democracy Summit and South Korean Elections
The Third Summit for Democracy - South Korean elections - Your Press Corner
Hey there.
This week, my newsletter is shorter because exceptionally there will be two instead of one. I don’t know the timing of the second one, but it should be published between today and this weekend. What a terrible announcement. No timing, no content, no teasing. I made a promise to keep it quiet for the moment.
But no worries, you should receive it in your mailbox if you subscribed. If not, maybe it is the time to cross that bridge!
So, this week, I am looking back at the Third Summit for Democracy that was virtually hosted this year by South Korea to look at how it addresses the Countering-Foreign Information Manipulation Interference (FIMI) efforts.
I am also taking this opportunity to do a quick snapshot of the situation in South Korea, ahead of its general elections planned for next April 10th.
What to expect:
Third Summit for Democracy
Last week, South Korea hosted the third Summit for Democracy under the theme “Democracy for Future Generations”. The ‘Summit for Democracy’ is a recent format launched by the Biden Administration in 2021 to “strengthen democratic institutions, protect human rights, and accelerate the fight against corruption both at home and abroad”.
While in December 2020, the EU had adopted its Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy for 2020-2024, which was recently renewed to address 2024 elections, the Biden Administration proposed a Summit, both as a domestic and international promise.
At the time, the proposal triggered lots of interrogation. Another Summit? To discuss what? Who will be there? This article from Politico summarizes well all these questions and is also interesting to re-read in 2024, as the shadow of the reelection of Donald Trump is hanging over us.
In late 2020, advocators of democracy were openly questioning if the U.S. could still be considered a democracy, making it slightly delicate for President Biden to offer a gathering of democracies. But again, the wording is important, and as the Politico reporter recalls: “Biden has called the event a “Summit for Democracy,” not a “Summit of Democracies.” That linguistic distinction could give organizers some room to maneuver on invitations: If your government says it’s for democracy even if it’s not very good at it, then maybe you get on the list.”
Has this new gathering convinced the U.S. partners? Well, on the outside, it looks like it. From the Politico article, one anonymous Asian ambassador was saying: “I’m very skeptical about it. I’m not sure who even wants to attend,”. Last week, the Summit was virtually held for the 3rd time and this time in East Asia, in South Korea. On March 20, the White House published a factsheet listing the steps it has undertaken to advance its commitments and initiatives launched during the Biden Administration.
What are the key steps concerning FIMI and elections?
Well, the first thing to know is that there is not really any initiatives that directly address FIMI and elections. Perhaps, because the F-word (no not the one you are thinking of) is a delicate word to employ when you are at a Summit where potentially the people you are meeting with come from a country that attempted to manipulate your national debate.
However, there are some initiatives surrounding elections and related to safeguarding the integrity of the information environment, such as:
the Defending Democratic Elections Fund, to strengthen information integrity and resilience, particularly during the period in between elections, when there are less funding available. This can be indeed useful at a time when funding becomes more and more scarce, but it remains at the mercy of political willingness.
the Advancing Digital Democracy (ADD) Academy, to offer essential skills in critical fields related to the safety of the online environment such as cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud computing and responsible AI. Multinational technological firms announced to support this initiative Cloudflare, Google, and Microsoft.
U.S. Guidance for Online Platforms on Protecting Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) Online, which highlights best practices online platforms can take to prevent, mitigate, and provide remedy for actions targeting HRDs online.
A response framework for coordinated, evidence-informed action to prevent, disrupt and reduce the spread of targeted online campaigns against women political and public figures and HRDs, completed by a Rapid Response Fund for women politicians, political candidates and civil society leaders who have been targeted by gender-based violence, online harassment and abuse.
USAID’s International Fund for Public Interest Media to support independent media outlets and to strengthen their long-term sustainability.
two programs under the State Deparment Journalism Protection Platform to combat impunity for violence against journalists and strengthen holistic security for journalists and independent media outlets, including those operating in exile.
So to recap:
Several funds, all aiming to palliate identified gaps such as the need for ongoing research, not just taking the temperature during elections, and the need for protecting vulnerable targets such as journalists and politicians targeted by gender-based disinformation and violence.
One Academy and two programs to develop and strengthen skills much needed to tackle information manipulation and online harms.
Guidance for online platforms.
There might be more hidden behind the words of ‘electoral integrity’, but at the moment that seems it. It doesn’t mean that information manipulation activities are overlooked as we can see from the theme of this year’s summit, focusing on digital threats to democracy, including misinformation, artificial intelligence, and deep fakes. One session was dedicated to information integrity online, and has been summarized here.
South Korean Elections
The President of South Korea made an opening speech at the Summit, calling for a “global alliance to combat misinformation”.
This is not an disinterested call, as South Korea is preparing to hold its general elections next April 10 and the President himself has been targeted by deepfakes videos manipulating his speeches since at least 2022.
Last February, the National Election Commission of South Korea reported (NEC) 129 illegal posts using AI generated videos and audios in the run-up to the April general election. The posts manipulated and distorted the speeches of opposing candidates. According to the Chosun Daily, South Korean tech companies have not been proactive in preventing the spread of deepfakes content. They are only taking action once a case is reported to them by the NEC.
But they are other threats targeting South Korean electoral integrity:
Distortion and manipulation of polls. People appear to be encouraged to lie about their age when they are contacted for opinion surveys.
Other reports are highlighting possible FIMI activities coming from China to target South Korean audiences. The National Intelligence Service identified last November 38 inauthentic Korean language news websites that distributed pro-China content and anti-US content, suspected to be operated by Chinese companies.
While South Korea has not shown a lot of engagement towards countering FIMI, it seems that the reality of AI may have changed its perceptions and brought the country closer to the U.S. and other allies. It is now calling for more cooperation, especially with Big Tech companies to identify potential Chinese and Russian information operations.
But first, Seoul might have to tackle a bigger domestic problem.
According to the New York Times, South Korea’s leader President Yoon has been instrumentalizing the word “fake news” to crack down on local independent journalists and free speech. We have seen in last week’s newsletter to what extent the term “disinformation” can be leveraged and exploited to limit actual fact-checking and countering FIMI efforts.
In South Korea, it is apparently not a recent tactic, but a common method leveraged both by conservatives and liberals. However, the measures taken, including ransacking the homes and offices of journalists, confiscating cellphones and files and establishing a special investigative prosecutor team, had not been observed since South Korea democratized in the 1990s. It seems like an entire ecosystem dedicated to control the local media is being progressively developed.
The media landscape in South Korea is not as simple as it seems. While South Korea has a rich media lanscape, there is defiance towards mainstream media outlets. At the same time, audiences are increasingly moving to internet platforms such as YouTube for media consumption. Finally, new media outlets that attempt to do independent investigative reporting are targeted by the government.
In such a fragile media environment, how will the next elections take place? Will the media vulnerability be exploited by foreign threat actors? Or will we witness another example of a democracy slowly sliding towards digital authoritarianism?
Your Press Corner
Here’s the weekly readings to keep you connected to all the conversation on global elections and information operations:
China and Russia 'spreading slurs against Princess of Wales' (telegraph.co.uk) - no evidence has been given yet for China, so we will have to trust the UK government on this one.
Kate rumours linked to Russian disinformation (bbc.com) - here the evidence for Russia, provided by Cardiff University Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation Institute. Prof Innes has identified a Russian disinformation group involved in this. It's not a state entity, but it is linked to people who have been sanctioned recently in the United States over claims they were part of a "malign influence campaign" that spread fake news.
Russia Amps Up Online Campaign Against Ukraine Before U.S. Elections - The New York Times (nytimes.com) - Moscow has found better ways to conceal influence operations that spread arguments for isolationism, officials and experts say.
Czechs sanction Medvedchuk, website over pro-Russian EU political influence | Reuters - the Czech government on Wednesday sanctioned two people including pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk and the news website voiceofeurope.com for leading a pro-Russian influence operation in Europe, the Czech Foreign Ministry said.
Tech giants removed 12M posts spreading disinformation on Indonesian election — BenarNews - Major social media and technology platforms purged millions of hoax posts in the run-up to last month’s elections in Indonesia.
China may try to influence South Korea's general elections: experts - The Korea Times - In November last year, the National Intelligence Service identified 38 fake Korean-language news websites that allegedly tried to influence public opinion by distributing pro-China and anti-U.S. content. They were suspected of being operated by Chinese companies.
Russian disinformation campaign promoting Putin’s legitimacy reported on X — Novaya Gazeta Europe - Kremlin-linked accounts have launched a disinformation campaign on X aimed at convincing foreign audiences that the recent Russian presidential election was legitimate, Russian independent news outlet Agentstvo reported on Friday.
El Salvador Media Come Under Attack in Election Year (voanews.com) - In some cases, journalists are harassed online or targeted in smear campaigns designed to discredit them.
Sahel: between disinformation, information warfare and unfavorable winds to democracy | News Ghana - a summary of a seminar organized by the Timbuktu Institute in partnership with Meta, on February 27 in Dakar, on “The stakes of disinformation and the challenges of social cohesion and democracy in the Sahel”.
Cameroon concerned about online risks ahead of polls (itweb.africa) - The discussion is part of the #defyhatenow campaign and will focus on best practices for advancing fact-checking in Africa, with guest experts from Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria sharing their experiences of combating disinformation and online hate speech during elections.
The Wind is Blowing Towards the East: The Vulnerability of Young Africans to Anti-Western Propaganda | StopFake - Young Africans appear to have largely assimilated elements of anti-Western propaganda and are increasingly convinced that the difficult, indeed even desperate situation faced by their countries is, above all, due to the presence and actions of countries from “the North” and specifically the former colonial powers, including France.
Artificial Intelligence and the integrity of African elections - Daily Trust - the African election observation ecosystem hosted a conference on Artificial Intelligence and Elections in Africa with the support of the Luminate Group to explore the opportunities and risks of AI-powered electoral processes especially as eligible voters in twenty-four African nations are expected vote in executive and legislative elections this year.
Brazil Implements Regulations on AI Usage in Elections | HackerNoon - Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court approved a new set of rules for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in elections. Among the measures are the complete ban on deep fakes and the mandatory warning of the use of AI in all content shared by candidates and their campaigns.
How will generative artificial intelligence affect political advertising in 2024? - ΑΙhub (aihub.org) - a straightforward summary of the challenges at stake in the U.S.
Russian intelligence controls warlord's disinformation empire with AI (ksby.com) - Russian intelligence services have taken control, a State Department official told Scripps News. And now, the official says Russians are using Artificial Intelligence to amplify their reach.
Meta Kills a Crucial Transparency Tool At the Worst Possible Time | WIRED - In case you missed it.
Brussels asks Big Tech to counter threats to integrity of European elections | Euronews - The European Commission has asked X, TikTok, Facebook and other online platforms to mitigate risks to elections and clamp down on voter disinformation, as part of new guidelines adopted on Tuesday.
Commission publishes guidelines under the DSA (europa.eu) - the Commission has published guidelines on recommended measures to Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines to mitigate systemic risks online that may impact the integrity of elections, with specific guidance for the upcoming European Parliament elections in June.
What Does Information Integrity Mean for Democracies? | Lawfare (lawfaremedia.org) - This article identifies six components of information integrity—namely, accuracy, consistency, reliability, fidelity, safety, and transparency—and defines them in the context of the information environment.
New Research report: "Building Resilience and Psychological Defence" | Psychological Defence Research Institute (lu.se) - It outlines an analytical framework, guidebook, and template addressing six dimensions of hybrid threats and foreign influence and interference from a nation-state perspective.
Opinion | The Debate Over Free Speech, Disinformation and Censorship - The New York Times (nytimes.com) - To the Editor:
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