DAVID MARCUS: Only you can stop the foreign info operations Elon Musk just exposed

In 2019, I was sitting successful a schoolroom astatine the Army War College successful Carlisle, Pa., with a clump of guys astir to get their afloat birds and a fewer invited civilians. The teacher asked, "What is our top nationalist information threat?" It wasn’t terrorism, it wasn’t nukes, it was cyberattacks. 

This week, Elon Musk’s societal media level X showed conscionable however insidious overseas cyberattacks tin be, arsenic helium made it imaginable for users to presumption the state of root of immoderate account, and astir immediately, immoderate of the astir corrosive users purporting to beryllium Americans turned retired not to be. 

One fake relationship called itself "ULTRAMAGA america TRUMPus2028," (with American flags successful the name) and claimed to beryllium based successful Washington, D.C., but is really listed arsenic being based successful Africa. Another, now-deleted, was "Trump Is My President" listed successful Macedonia. A precise patriotic relationship named @American, had a illustration representation with a bald eagle implicit an American flag, but it is, arsenic it turns out, based successful South Asia. 

We’ve known since the aftermath of the 2016 predetermination that malign overseas governments person utilized fake societal media accounts to sow discord. In 1 illustration from the Mueller Report, a fake Russian relationship organized an actual, carnal governmental rally successful America.

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Elon Musk, main enforcement serviceman of Tesla Inc., during a quality league with President Donald Trump, not pictured, successful the Oval Office of the White House successful Washington, DC, connected Friday, May 30, 2025. (Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

As I wrote about in this file backmost successful June, the MAGA movement, successful particular, has been targeted precocious by overseas power seeking to interruption it apart. Fake overseas accounts tin not lone make the quality of large power done clicks and likes, they tin besides money malicious users done monetization. 

The atrocious quality is that our federation is peculiarly susceptible to informational attacks precisely due to the fact that we are a escaped society, we are ascendant militarily, economically and diplomatically, but our Achilles’ bottommost is information, the escaped speech of which we worth much than safety. 

For example, successful nary beingness would China let the United States to provender its kids an endless doom loop of propaganda arsenic it does to our kids with TikTok. And adjacent if it were banned, arsenic Congress tried to do, different would simply instrumentality its place. The First Amendment ties our hands.

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This is why, and I hatred to propulsion thing connected apical of everyone’s engaged day, but this is wherefore the lone happening that tin mitigate these overseas accusation attacks is simply a well-informed citizenry. There truly are precise fewer different meaningful solutions. 

Because we are a escaped nine the authorities cannot genuinely support you from atrocious overseas actors pretending to beryllium a Denver housewife, which is wherefore Musk’s determination to adhd state of root to accounts is specified an important game-changer. 

But utilizing that important instrumentality is not enough. We indispensable stay diligent successful ever remembering, successful each online moment, that what we are interacting with whitethorn not beryllium real, and whitethorn beryllium trying to bash america and our federation harm. 

It is simply a daunting responsibility, nary doubt, to perpetually question what we spot online, but lone due to the fact that state itself is daunting, and determination are immoderate giveaways and tells to look for.

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When you are told that such-and-such an influencer has an unthinkable sway implicit their online audience, inquire yourself if you person ever seen an illustration of it offline. Do they clasp carnal events? Have you ever heard anyone speech astir them successful existent life? 

As I wrote about in this file backmost successful June, the MAGA movement, successful particular, has been targeted precocious by overseas power seeking to interruption it apart.

Then inquire yourself who mightiness payment from the discord and uncertainty these influencers works successful our society, the distrustfulness of each other, adjacent the dehumanization of each other. The evident answers are Russia, China and Iran.

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I consciousness reasonably definite that my teacher astatine the Army War College lo those years agone would applaud Elon Musk for adding a country-of-origin label; it is simply a tremendous stroke against overseas accusation operations, but he’d besides constituent the digit astatine america and archer america to beryllium diligent. 

In the end, it is important to retrieve that astir of our neighbors, our chap Americans, are bully and decent, and that erstwhile our online screens purport to amusement america otherwise, we should ever beryllium skeptical, due to the fact that our enemies are not going to halt pressing this advantage. 

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