Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines speaks about digital threats, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace April 24, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines speaks about digital threats, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace April 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The Spread of Repressive IT Is a 'Critical Threat,' US Intel Chief Says

Democracies must band together against Invasive surveillance, spyware, online censorship, and mis- and disinformation, Avril Haines said.

As authoritarian countries increasingly rely on digital tools to suppress dissent inside and outside their borders, the U.S. and its democratic partners need to work together to counter the spread of repressive technologies across the globe, the nation’s top intelligence official said during an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Monday. 

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said that rising digital authoritarianism poses “a critical threat to our national security,” citing, in particular, the repressive models implemented by the Russian, Chinese, and Iranian governments as efforts that undermine democratic values within their countries and beyond.

These methods—which include the use of invasive surveillance tools, spyware, internet shutdowns, online censorship and the spread of mis- and disinformation—have a broader impact. She said the intelligence community assesses “that foreign governments are increasingly using digital information and communication technologies to monitor and suppress political debate domestically, as well as in their expat and diaspora communities abroad.” 

She noted that this also includes the exportation of spyware and surveillance technologies to other countries where democracy is backsliding, which could further erode democratic norms and values on the global stage. 

“And as these technologies, capabilities, policies and mechanisms are exported and implemented in various countries or territories, they make it that much harder to bolster democratic governance and easier for authoritarians to prevail,” she added. “Moreover, the use of these technologies and methods to monitor and limit dissent are on a trajectory to become even more pervasive, targeted and complex in the next few years, further constraining freedoms globally.”

Emerging technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, could also be deployed by authoritarian nations to further suppress dissent and unwanted narratives, with Haines saying that they “will only increase the sophistication that such regimes can use to deploy such tools, making them that much more difficult to counter.”

And Haines said that the growing use of these tools adds to “the contest over information,” which she called “perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of the problem” when it comes to digital repression.

“Today, we assess that foreign governments are increasingly using digital information and communication technologies to monitor and suppress political debate domestically, as well as in their expat and diaspora communities abroad,” she said.

Whether it’s internet shutdowns in Iran to silence the voices of protestors; the use of surveillance technologies in China to control the population; or censorship laws in Russia to suppress government criticism, these approaches pose a challenge to U.S. interests and values around the world. 

Haines noted that, for the first time, the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment—which was publicly released last month—included an entire section on the digital trends of authoritarianism. 

That report warned that “foreign states’ malicious use of digital information and communication technologies will become more pervasive, automated, targeted and complex during the next few years, further threatening to distort publicly available information and probably will outpace efforts to protect digital freedoms.”

Haines said that the rise of digital authoritarianism—including its dependence on emerging technologies and surveillance tools to control information and quell internal dissent—should spur the U.S. and other democratic nations to develop “normative frameworks” that can “preserve, to the greatest extent, the promise of such technologies to support freer flows of information, more timely and cheaper communication—as well as smart technologies—prove the delivery of services, and even protect the environment and promote our health, while nevertheless guarding against their use for digital repression.” 

Haines said this also includes highlighting efforts in democratic nations to move away from the use of technologies that could be used to surveil citizens, such as President Joe Biden’s March 27 executive order restricting the government’s use of commercial spyware “that poses risks to national security.” 

But she added that “the multifaceted challenge of adversaries suppressing information environments cannot be solved by government alone,” and said it was critical for non-government organizations and other pro-democracy voices to also push back on the spread of digital authoritarianism. 

“Digital repression and foreign maligning influence are whole-of-society challenges, and we can no longer operate on parallel, but distinct tracks,” she added.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.