The Politics of Influence in the Trump Administration

The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association.

During this episode, Brian Murphy discusses issues surrounding ethics related to foreign disinformation–including difficult tradeoffs related to freedom and security.

Research Question: Brian believes that we need more clearer criteria for what is disinformation and misinformation. There are no adequate definitions and there is too much subjectivity in current definitions. For example, relevant to disinformation, what is the difference between legitimate statecraft and propaganda?

Resources:

• Some of Brian’s Publications:
  • Book release Spring 2023 Russian Disinformation in America and the U.S. Government’s Ethical Obligations to Respond, Springer Nature Publishing.
  • The Impact of Social Media Conveyed Russian-Backed Disinformation in a Polarized America: An Examination of the Executive Branch’s Ethical Responsibility to Respond (Georgetown University)
  • The US Needs a Center to Counter Foreign Malign Influence at Home - Defense One
  • Ukraine's History Shows Where Russian Disinformation Can Take Hold (logically.ai)
  • Making Sense of Russian Disinformation and Propaganda (logically.ai)
  • “Decaying National Security: Understanding the Implications of Imagined Tribalism and its Connection to the Decay of Nationalism in a Radically Changed Information Context” - RUSI Journal | Royal United Services Institute.
  • Chapter:  Introduction to T&S and Law Enforcement - Trust & Safety Professional Association (tspa.org)
  • The Ever-Shrinking Worlds of National and Homeland Security by Brian Murphy
  • Brian Murphy PhD Dissertation: THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA CONVEYED RUSSIAN-BACKED DISINFORMATION IN A POLARIZED AMERICA: AN EXAMINATION OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH’S ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPOND

Link to full show notes and resources

https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-142

Guest Bio: Since September 2021, Brian Murphy has been the Vice President of Strategic Operations for Logically.  In his role, he assisted in developing and implementing advanced Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence solutions to find harmful threat content at scale and across languages and platforms on social media.   Before joining Logically, Mr. Murphy served as both the Principal and Acting Under Security for Intelligence for the Department of Homeland Security (2018 to 2021).  In these roles, he served as the Chief Intelligence Officer, Chief Information Sharing Officer, and Chief Counterintelligence Officer for the department.  In this capacity, he provided intelligence leading to more than 250K personnel. Mr. Murphy led intelligence analysis, data integration, and program management for 22 component organizations within the department.  Mr. Murphy was a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for over 20 years.  While there, he performed duties from street agent up to roles as a national manager.  While in the senior executive service at the FBI, he served as the primary point of contact for federal, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism programs.  During his career, he served in New York, Afghanistan, Algeria, Tunisia, Niger, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Washington, DC.  Murphy began his federal service in 1994 as an officer in the United States Marine Corps.  He would later return to this role in 2004 after he was recalled to active duty for service in Iraq. Mr. Murphy’s academic credentials include a PhD from Georgetown University; Master of Arts in Islamic Studies from Columbia University; Bachelor of Arts in Government College of William and Mary.  He is a certified U.S. Intel Community Intelligence Officer and Joint Duty Certified and maintains a Top Secret clearance.

About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.