Australia Not Doing Enough to Defeat Disinformation
In 2023, a group of Australian universities told the parliament: "In the absence of a natural home within government for understanding and responding to malicious information operations and the resulting threats to our democracy, we propose the establishment of an organisation to coordinate and systematize (1) monitoring of and (2) responses to information operations, both internal to Australia and from outside. Such mechanisms, while a seeming anachronism in democracy, have existed in the past at times of crisis; see for example the Australian Broadcasting Act 1942 in World War II."
On 8 July, the Social Cyber Institute will release a discussion paper calling for Australia to set up militia units based in the community to counter information warfare and provide open-source intelligence. ("Crowdsourcing an Australian cyber intelligence and information militia?")
The author, Professor Dan Svantesson, called on the government to react more seriously to the threats of information warfare from Russia and China. He also said the country could exploit the opportunities offered by an engaged and well-educated citizenry to broaden its defences.
‘Australia needs to prepare for things to get worse, including the risk of military conflict in our region’, Svantesson said. ‘In 2022, one month before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden set up a new Psychological Defence Agency to counter modern information warfare, but Australia has yet to react in a way that recognises the central role of the community in providing that defence.’
Svantesson also noted the historical precedents in Australia for community participation in open-source intelligence, particularly through Coastwatchers, set up after the First World War.
The paper also discusses the participation by Australians in citizen-based information warfare defence overseas, especially the unofficial NAFO campaign against Russian disinformation. ‘There are many complex legal issues to be addressed about the participation of Australian citizens in foreign information wars’, Svantesson said.
The Social Cyber Institute will host a webinar on 25 July to discuss these topics.
Svantesson is a Senior Fellow of the Social Cyber Institute specialising in international aspects of the IT society, a field within which he has authored or co-authored more than 280 publications. He is a Professor of Law at Bond University.
To register: https://lnkd.in/gbg8Weir
Master's Degree in International Relations & Security Studies | International Business Development | Defence Exports (Asia Pacific & LatAm) | Program Management | Russian Language (Intermediate) | Bahasa Indonesia
1yZelenskyy wasn't aware thar his close aides were giving information to the Russian side, while he was busy doing world tour and posing for Vogue magazine?