ABSTRACT

In this study, we map the legal work seven U.S. digital consultancies and public relations firms undertook across social media and digital platforms of behalf of four foreign governments. We find these firms used a range of different strategies on social and digital media, very few of which featured legally required disclosures linking the content to their country of origin. Firms targeted journalists and other elites, but exactly how is not clear. Our most powerful findings regard what is absent. Our study reveals as much about the inconsistencies and inadequacies of the current FARA disclosure process and gaps in tech firms’ ad archives as it does about the content and strategies of the messages themselves. We conclude with a series of recommendations for technology firms and the Department of Justice for enforcing FARA regulations as they relate to social and digital content.

摘要

在这项研究中，我们绘制了七家美国数字咨询公司和公关公司代表四个外国政府在社交媒体和数字平台上开展的法律工作。我们发现这些公司在社交和数字媒体上使用了一系列不同的策略，其中很少有法律要求的披露将内容与其原产国联系起来。公司针对记者和其他精英，但具体如何尚不清楚。我们最有力的发现是关于缺席的。我们的研究揭示了当前 FARA 披露流程的不一致和不足，以及科技公司广告档案中的空白，以及信息本身的内容和策略。