Active Measures

In this episode, we’ll explore how one of the world’s most vulnerable nations—Taiwan, which faces a daily barrage of Chinese state information and influence operations—has successfully built resilience against PRC  information warfare . We’ll delve into Taiwan’s comprehensive, whole-of-society approach to countering these threats.

Joining me today is Ben Graham Jones, a specialist in emerging threats to election integrity. Ben advises leading organizations in the elections field and contributed to the report we’ll be discussing through his work with Doublethink Lab in Taipei. Over his career, he has led three election missions, participated in numerous election observation, assistance, and advisory missions, and designed cutting-edge tools for analyzing online information and election technologies.

Ben’s extensive experience includes working with organizations like the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Carter Center, and the European Union. He has also served as a policy adviser on Prime Ministerial initiatives in the United Kingdom. Ben’s a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London’s Department of War Studies, Ben is also a Fellow at the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

In his report, Taiwan POWER, which examines the 2024 presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan, Ben presents Taiwan as a model for building resilience against foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).

What is Active Measures?

Welcome to the Active Measures podcast from Disinfowatch and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, hosted by Marcus Kolga. Over five episodes we will look at the history of Russia's information and influence operations, how they've evolved since the Cold War and their rapid intensification over the past decade, their efforts to undermine our democracies and distort our understanding of Russia's war against Ukraine, and the Kremlin's attacks against those who are critical of it. We'll talk to the brave activists and journalists who are on the front-line defending the democratic world and our collective cognitive sovereignty against Russia's information warfare.