Here's why the US can't keep up with Russia in the battle to fight propaganda

On Tuesday, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius profiled the upcoming memoir of State Department undersecretary Richard Stengel, whose new book offers a depressing argument for why America is always a few steps behind Russia when it comes to combating propaganda and fake news.

"This book carries a blunt and frightening message: The United States is losing the fight for what Russians call the 'information space.' The cruel paradox of the Internet, once hailed as a liberating force, is that it empowers governments that control information and enfeebles those that let it run free," wrote Ignatius. "'Let’s face it, democracies are not very good at combating disinformation,' writes Stengel. Authoritarian governments, in contrast, 'have gone from fearing the flow of information to exploiting it. They understand that the same tools that spread democracy can engineer its undoing.'"

Stengel, a former editor at Time magazine and a highly accomplished journalist, joined the State Department in 2014 to manage communications, and went in with the idealistic belief that true information necessarily wins out over propaganda.

After seeing the actual way that democracies like the United States struggle to contain misdirection and manipulation from hostile authoritarian states, he has been disabused of this comforting notion — starting with our inability to counteract not just Russia but ISIS.

"While the Islamic State rampaged online, [the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications] deliberated," wrote Ignatius. "Tasks that should have taken weeks instead took months. Other agencies undermined anything that threatened their turf. During one long meeting, a lieutenant general whispered to Stengel: 'I know how to defeat ISIS. ... Get them involved in the interagency process.' Stengel frankly admits that the Obama administration was slow to react to Russia’s 2016 election manipulation. 'The scale of Russian disinformation was beyond what we were capable of responding to,' he writes. He notes the eerie similarity between Russian covert propaganda and Donald Trump’s campaign themes."

Ignatius notes that Stengel doesn't necessarily believe the answer is to give government more power over information. Rather, he believes the answer is to treat social media companies and other internet platforms more like traditional publishers — holding them liable if they refuse to take proactive steps to delete false news that leads to harm or violence.

"In the end, people will get the news media they deserve: If they consume false information, they’re certain to get more of it," concluded Ignatius.