United Against Manipulation

There is no single solution to attempts at illegitimate foreign influence, such as disinformation campaigns. What is needed is an integrated approach that allows for a combination of different strategies. In the CeMAS research paper “United Against Manipulation”, researcher Lea Frühwirth outlines an integrated model for dealing with foreign opinion manipulation.

'FIMI' (short for 'Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference') describes attempts by states to manipulate public opinion in other states in order to destabilise societies. Therefore, it is in the core interest of democratic states to protect their populations as much as possible from such manipulation attempts.

While the problem is one that concerns many countries, comprehensive, integrated strategies for tackling it are still the exception. Lea Frühwirth from CeMAS has examined the approaches and individual measures already in use – from platform regulation to fact checks – as inspiration for best practice in her research paper ‘United Against Manipulation: An Integrated FIMI Response Model (FIMI)’.

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