Victoria Smith was a nonresident senior research analyst at the Partnership for Countering Influence Operations at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Prior to joining Carnegie, Smith researched Islamist and far right extremism in the United Kingdom. She has also worked as a Middle East analyst specializing in regional politics, current affairs, and how regional actors use social media to manipulate and promote narratives. She has provided strategic analysis on the Gulf and the UK to senior leaders and has expertise in providing political, counterterrorism, counter extremism, and regional conflict analysis to government and the private sector.
The field of influence operations investigations is growing rapidly, and researchers need a better grasp of best practices and standards. Here, experienced researchers offer insights ranging from methods to data collection to team development.
The range of practical ideas offered by respondents suggests a broad interest in tackling these implementation challenges. But respondents’ ideas often lacked detail and sometimes conflicted with each other, indicating that community dialogue about best practices remains at an early stage.
Social media and messaging platforms are de facto regulators of online speech and therefore key decisionmakers in combating online influence operations. In recent years, major platforms have begun maintaining public “community standards”—written policies on a wide range of problematic activity like hate speech, violence, and influence operations.
The PCIO has compiled media reporting and publications about influence operations into a public, searchable format, as well as a daily email.
The number of organizations and projects focused on influence operations has grown dramatically in recent years. This growth is encouraging, but its pace brings challenges.
To achieve broad and enduring benefits, disparate groups working to combat influence operations need to build a more unified, professional field.
As the world continues to weather the coronavirus pandemic, reliable information from public health experts will continue to be a necessity. At the same time, these experts will still face headwinds in getting their message out to a weary or even disenchanted public.
