US Under Secretary of State for Diplomacy and Public Affairs Elizabeth Allen said the United States is working with partners around the world to identify the problems that disinformation and foreign malign influence pose to states.
“We see this as a national security threat. We see this as a policy area that needs cohesive solutions around it, and so the United States has developed a framework for countering malign foreign influence, and that includes several ways in which governments can work together to address this problem of misinformation and malicious foreign influence”, said Allen Klan Kosovo.
Allen said the Memorandum of Understanding he signed Sunday with President Osmani against the manipulation of information by foreign countries increases the ability to analyze disinformation narratives.
“It enhances our mutual ability to find policy solutions against disinformation. This includes civil society, because no discussion of combating disinformation and malicious foreign influence is complete if we only talk about actions the government can take, but also supporting independent media, ensuring we have fact-checking, really made sure that academia, the media, civil society and government are all working together to tackle this problem,” said Allen.
The undersecretary added that Russia is not interested in a free and prosperous region.
“They are seeking to sow chaos and division and discourage democratic progress and so part of the Memorandum of Understanding we signed today includes efforts to strengthen democratic principles, increase trust in institutions and combat those malicious foreign influence campaigns Allen said.
