Blinken says fighting disinformation 'vital US national security interest', says technology must sustain democratic values

A file photo of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, DC. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster via AFP/Getty Images)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the need to make sure that technologies sustain democratic values, telling a democracy summit on Monday that authoritarian regimes deploy them to undermine democracy and human rights. Blinken spoke at the ministerial conference of the third Summit for Democracy, a US-led initiative held in Seoul, South Korea, this year.

Fighting disinformation including AI-enabled content is a "vital" national security interest and diplomatic priority for the US, Blinken said, adding, "Revitalising democracy will also require us to shape the technological future, that's inclusive, that's rights respecting, directed at driving progress in people's lives."

Saying that digital technologies, including both social media and Artificial Intelligence, were "dramatically accelerating the speed and spread of disinformation," Blinken outlined US efforts to push back against the issue.

"As authoritarian and repressive regimes deploy technologies to undermine democracy and human rights, we need to ensure that technology sustains and supports democratic values and norms," he said, "Building a more resilient information environment is a vital US national security interest and an urgent priority for our diplomacy."

The US State Department's 'Democratic Roadmap' of recommendations would include "encouraging social media platforms to label AI-generated content, so users know when an image is real or when it is not," he said.

Blinken also outlined a raft of efforts to support the media industry, including a crackdown on "the misuse of commercial spyware to surveil and harass journalists, human rights defenders, and others –- including leveraging sanctions, export controls, and visa restrictions to hold governments and firms accountable".

Propaganda-spewing websites have typically relied on armies of writers, but Generative AI tools now offer a significantly cheaper and faster way to fabricate content. Hundreds of AI-powered sites mimicking news outlets have cropped up in recent months, fueling an explosion of false narratives -- about everything from war to politicians –- that researchers say is stoking alarm in a year of high-stake elections around the world.

Experts say that auto-generated misinformation could have a major impact on the US 2024 election, with many other countries, including South Korea which has parliamentary elections in April, also concerned about the issue.

US President Joe Biden first proposed the idea of a democracy summit during his 2020 campaign and has called for the US and like-minded allies to show the world that democracies serve societies better than autocracies.

Also Monday, Blinken met South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and President Yoon Suk Yeol for talks on North Korea and the US-South Korea alliance, according to the South Korean government.

North Korea fired at least one suspected ballistic missile in a defiant show of force that coincided with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's Seoul visit.

This would be the second ballistic missile Kim Jong Un’s regime has fired this year after shooting off an intermediate-range rocket in mid-January designed to hit US bases in Asia. The state’s official media said that projectile was a “hypersonic" missile, indicating it deployed a reentry vehicle for carrying a nuclear warhead that can change its flight path at high speeds.

(With inputs from from AP, AFP and Bloomberg)