RUSSIA UNDERMINES DEMOCRACY
American democracy, the hope it inspired, and the unity of democratic nations is the greatest threat to Putin’s autocratic regime. Russian bot armies regularly shape what trends on Twitter and Facebook, promoting a narrative of division and fear as they work to convince Americans there is no “truth.”
For over a decade, Russia has successfully seeded misinformation and meddled in American and European elections. Russia played a central role in spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, doxxing US election officials, and amplify home-grown American conspiracies.
Americans came together and united the world against the Soviet threat. Putin learned a lesson from that. To ensure the Winds of Change do not blow again through autocratic countries, Russia has infiltrated conservative and liberal news and social feeds to spread confusion, fear, and distrust in American democratic institutions.
Putin’s goal as he prepared to invade democratic Ukraine was to ensure American and Europe would not unite behind their leaders to hold him accountable. And China has been watching.