The Kremlin content-for-cash scandal that’s enveloped several high-profile conservative online commentators has some experts worrying about the growth in influencer marketing by campaigns.
“It is ripe for interference for sure,” said Rachael Dean Wilson, managing director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), a non-profit advocacy group housed at The German Marshall Fund. “It’s really on campaigns … to have an eye to national security at this point, because we’ve seen time and again that not just Russia but Iran in very specific cases, [and] China are interested in interfering in elections and definitely influencing public opinion in our democracy.”
She added: “Ignorance can’t be an excuse.”
But if you’re a consultant on a competitive down-ballot race, how can you spot foreign actors trying to influence its outcome? Well, there’s no easy answer to that question.
“It’s incredibly difficult to do because Russia’s always been really good in the information space,” said Dean Wilson. “And they’ve only gotten better.”
It comes down to knowing as much as you can “about people you’re working with,” Dean Wilson said.
“If you work with people in this industry all the time, if something doesn’t seem right, then get curious about that,” she said. “That’s a very unscientific recommendation there, but if your interactions just seem a little different or a little off, I would just investigate that further.”
And remember, she warns, this isn’t just about influencing the outcome of the presidential. Down-ballot races and candidates are targets, too. “It may be easier to just dismiss it in a partisan way, but in the long term that is going to undermine everyone and that will hurt all of us. The ultimate goal of these foreign actors is for this operation to further divide us.”
She encouraged any practitioner who is concerned about foreign interference in their race to contact the FBI.
