Blinken warns of a threat to democracies from disinformation

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken warned Monday that a vicious “tide” of disinformation is threatening the world’s democracies, fueled in part by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, which he said is sowing “suspicion, cynicism and instability” around the world .

Mr Blinken spoke in Seoul at the Summit for democracya global gathering organized by the Biden administration, which has made countering the authoritarian models of countries like Russia and China a top priority.

Mr. Blinken, who briefly worked as a journalist as a young man, said changes in the international flow of information may be “the most dramatic” he has seen in his career, and that anti-democratic forces are exploiting them.

“Our competitors and adversaries use disinformation to exploit the rifts within our democracies,” he said.

He noted that countries totaling almost half of the world’s population, including India, will hold elections this year under the threat of manipulated information. He made no mention of the U.S. presidential election in November, which many analysts say could be influenced by foreign-oriented information campaigns like those waged by Russia in 2016.

The US is promoting “digital and media literacy” programs abroad to help news consumers assess the reliability of content, Mr Blinken said. But he warned that US adversaries were clever in laundering their propaganda and disinformation. For example, China bought cable TV providers in Africa and then excluded international news channels from subscription packages, he said.

And increasingly powerful generative AI programs, Mr. Blinken said, can “fool even the most sophisticated news consumers.”

The State Department has urged social media platforms to take more action, including by clearly labeling AI-generated content. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced such a plan last month for content posted on Facebook and Instagram.

But experts at the conference said the challenge was enormous. Later in the day, Oliver Dowden, Britain’s deputy prime minister, spoke on the topic, citing the example of an AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket that attracted widespread attention last year.

Mr Dowden said that even though he understood the image was fake, he retained a mental association between the Pope and puffer jackets. Such images “subconsciously influence your perceptions,” he said.

Mr Blinken spoke days after a new report warned on behalf of the State Department and released last week that artificial intelligence presents the world with “catastrophic risks.” The report states that an AI system “capable of superhuman persuasion” could undermine the democratic process.

It also cited concerns from an unnamed prominent AI researcher that “the model’s potential persuasive power could fracture democracy if ever deployed in areas such as election interference or voter manipulation.”

Mr. Blinken discussed the threat of commercial spyware, which he said several governments had used to monitor and intimidate journalists and political activists. He said six countries – Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Poland and South Korea – have joined one US-led coalition to ensure that commercial spyware is “deployed in accordance with universal human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

President Biden issued an executive order a year ago banning the U.S. government from using commercial spyware, but not similar tools built by U.S. intelligence agencies.

This week’s Summit for Democracy is the third installment of a forum started in 2021 by Mr. Biden, who said during his State of the Union address this month that “freedom and democracy are being strengthened both at home and abroad attacked.” The meetings are intended to help other countries promote best civil society practices and defend against political sabotage.

Mr Blinken’s visit to Seoul came as North Korea conducted its latest test launch of several short-range ballistic missiles. The launches came days after joint US and South Korean military exercises that North Korea described as provocative.

Mr. Blinken made no mention of the launches in his public remarks, although the State Department condemned them.

Matthew Miller, a ministry spokesman, also said in a statement that Mr. Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul “regarded Pyongyang’s military support for Russia’s war against Ukraine” and “increasingly more aggressive rhetoric and activities” of North Korea.