European naratives. Twenty International Students Tell Their ... by Greg Bond

Meanwhile, Germany carried out cybersecurity stress tests against its electoral system prior to its September 2017 elections to ensure the integrity and authenticity of election data. In the UK, a new National Security Communications Team was set up after the June 2017 snap elections to combat disinformation by states and other actors. For example, the Netherlands banned the electronic counting of votes ahead of its March 2017 parliamentary elections after reports of software-related vulnerabilities. In response to these challenges, several European countries have sought to upgrade their election security and to combat disinformation. After witnessing the dramatic events in the United States, a number of national governments and the European Union scrambled to protect against similar interference in upcoming elections in Europe. Beyond cyber and disinformation efforts, Russia is also reportedly engaged in various efforts to bolster European far-right parties and fringe movements, using various tactics including non-cyber means. Though other European elections have been mostly spared from overt forms of foreign interference, Russian disinformation and cyber interference remain persistent threats to the integrity and functioning of European democratic processes. Isolated reports of interference have also been recorded in other cases-such as the 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the 2017 Catalan independence referendum in Spain. The most striking example of foreign interference in a European election to date was the hacking of Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche campaign during the 2017 French presidential election and the subsequent dissemination of the stolen information on social media. Election Security: A New Paradigm for EU Policymakers With a multitude of elections having occurred in Europe since, these governmental efforts can provide valuable lessons for the United States as it gears up for its presidential election in November.

presidential election served as a wake-up call for Europe about the rising threats facing free and fair elections.

Russia’s interference in the November 2016 U.S.

European naratives. Twenty International Students Tell Their ... by Greg Bond