Online Influence and Hostile Narratives in Eastern Asia
Online Influence and Hostile Narratives in Eastern Asia

Author(s): Hannah Smith
Contributor(s): George Steele (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Social Sciences, Media studies, Political Theory, Communication studies, Sociology, International relations/trade, Politics and communication, Theory of Communication, Social Informatics, Geopolitics
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: Eastern Asia; online influence; hostile narratives; geopolitical competition; hostile information activities; social media; fake news; disinformation;
Summary/Abstract: Eastern Asia — which we will define as including East and Southeast Asia — is a region of increasing geopolitical competition with many racial, cultural and societal fractures. With the rapid expansion of inexpensive internet access, these fractures and tensions mean that many states in the region are both vulnerable to, and a source of, hostile information activities that are being used to achieve strategic goals both inside and outside the region. This report documents examples of hostile information activities that have originated in Eastern Asia and have been targeted in the following countries: • Taiwan; • The Hong Kong-based protest movement; • West Papua; • The Philippines.

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