U.S. Sec. of State Antony Blinken spoke on State Department efforts to mitigate the spread of misinformation and technology's role in foreign policy during a meeting with journalists after a recent visit to Stanford University, the DOS reports.
Blinken said DOS "had a couple of great days" at the university, discussing with technology trailblazers ways to position the United States to be world leaders in science and technology, according to a transcript released Oct. 7 by the DOS.
"We are at an inflection point," Blinken said in his remarks, according to the transcript. "The post-Cold War world has come to an end, and there is an intense competition underway to shape what comes next. And at the heart of that competition is technology."
Blinken spoke on the influence technology will have on everything from economies to militaries to how people live their daily lives, "(a)nd so it’s profoundly a source of national strength," according to the transcript. He stated technology is "front and center to our foreign policy" and that strengthening relationships with tech leaders in Silicon Valley and at Stanford "is part of our foreign policy," the transcript reports.
Blinken was asked how he envisioned cooperation between the DOS and institutions like Stanford to combat misinformation and propaganda, the transcript reports. Blinken replied that the university "is doing remarkable work" battling disinformation online.
"(I)t's one of things we want to make sure that we're benefiting from, because this is a day-in, day-out battle for us, combating misinformation and disinformation around the world,” Blinken said in the transcript.
The secretary said the DOS has "a big focus" on combating misinformation.
"We have something called the Global Engagement Center that’s working on this every single day," he said. "But that work is both inspired by work that’s being done in academia, including here at Stanford, as well as where appropriate collaborations.”
Blinken said it is imperative to use technology to deal with the negative impact technology has when its misused, particularly in the spreading of misinformation and disinformation, according to the transcript. He said the DOS is working to develop partnerships "at every place that is actually developing answers, including Stanford, and then integrating that into what we do.”
Battling disinformation is part of ongoing policy conversations with other governmental departments which are also working on the issue, Blinken said, and that the online platforms have a responsibility to ensure the platforms are not being abused "particularly when it comes to misinformation and disinformation."
"So it’s a vital work," Blinken said. "It’s a work in progress. But we’re really grateful for the fact that so much is being thought about, thought of, developed here that we can actually put to good use in dealing with this problem."
In response to a question on foreign meddling in the midterm elections, Blinken said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other government agencies have been tracking the possibility “very, very closely,” according to the transcript, saying the agencies are constantly looking at “whether certain countries are engaged in efforts to meddle in, manipulate, or otherwise misinform the election,” then deferred the question to the other agencies, in particular the DHS.
