The fight against Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) requires a collective effort to counter the threats it poses to society.
In view of an upcoming ADAC.io Publication that reviews DISARM and its compatibility with related frameworks, co-author of the publication and DISARM Foundation’s Chief Strategist, Victoria Smith, answered questions about how DISARM’s wide user base and commitment to interoperability are key to addressing these challenges effectively.
What are the implications of DISARM having a wide user/stakeholder base and why does the framework need this wide base?
“FIMI seeks to exploit grievances, exacerbate social polarisation, undermine democratic processes and cause harm to individuals and communities. The quality of our information environment, and the ability of actors with malign intent to exploit it, affects all of us, and it is why many in the counter-FIMI field call for ‘whole of society’ responses to address FIMI. DISARM strives to help all our users, whether in government, civil society, academia, journalism and beyond, build a common understanding of the vulnerabilities exploited by FIMI and the harms they cause. This in turn helps defenders select the most effective, proportionate and appropriate actions to protect at-risk communities and facilitates ‘whole of society’ responses.”
What is important when considering interoperability in the disinformation/FIMI analysis space?
“Interoperability is an ongoing challenge. Some governments and organisations have the resources to invest in solutions, such as OpenCTI, which have a relatively high barrier to entry, including technical skills to implement and use and ongoing subscription costs. Freelance researchers and smaller, less well-resourced organisations need solutions that are affordable, sustainable and work for them, but that also allow them to structure their research in ways that are compatible with the processes and tools used by others.”
“DISARM is currently in the process of updating its prototype tagger tool. This tool is designed to make the manual tagging process easier and quicker, while also giving users the option to generate a table of tags used at the end of their document, and export this table in the .json format compatible with OpenCTI. Another option being explored is a form in a Word or Google Document, which enables users to structure their reports in standardised ways. The DISARM team are in regular contact with a range of stakeholders, and we continue to explore ways to structure the framework and develop tools to make them more accessible to all our users, regardless of their size or level of resources.”
A Comprehensive Review of DISARM Framework and its Compatibility with Related Frameworks Used to Model Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, authored by Victoria Smith, Stephen Campbell, Adam Maunder, (Alliance4Europe/DISARM Foundation), will be published on Thursday 9th January 2025). Find it on adacio.eu. For further information on DISARM, visit: https://www.disarm.foundation.
Contact: victoria.smith (at) alliance4europe.eu