Defending Democratic Institutions

Countering Adversary Attacks on Fundamental Institutions of Democracy

The Defending Democratic Institutions (DDI) project was established to better understand, and develop recommendations to counter foreign efforts to disrupt democracy and exacerbate public distrust of democratic institutions via cyber and information operations. A key focus of this initiative is on information operations undermining Americans’ trust in the justice system, to include judges, prosecutors, and the rule of law. In addition, this initiative focuses on building national resilience through the reinvigoration of civics education, at all ages, as a national security imperative.


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Suzanne Spaulding

Suzanne Spaulding


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Photo: Di Studio | gsshot | andriano_cz/Adobe Stock

Photo: Di Studio | gsshot | andriano_cz/Adobe Stock

Crossing the Deepfake Rubicon

New research finds that we can now no longer trust our eyes and ears to reliably distinguish between real and AI-generated images, audio, and video. What does this mean in a world where the weaponization of synthetic media is becoming increasingly prevalent?

Brief by Di Cooke, Abigail Edwards, Alexis Day, Devi Nair, Sophia Barkoff, and Katie Kelly — November 1, 2024

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