How are user- and platform-specific vulnerabilities exploited by foreign actors?
The United States and its allies face a growing threat from foreign actors who spread propaganda, disinformation, and manipulative content on social media. But foreign influence campaigns do not merely take place on platforms, they are mediated through platforms. How users choose to engage with influence campaigns affects the likelihood that the campaign will spread on social media. Studying the relationship between user engagement and algorithmic personalization within the context of foreign influence campaigns around the world will allow us to categorize user- and platform-specific vulnerabilities and develop feasible mitigation strategies.
