The Intelligence Community's Foreign Malign Influence Center (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 3, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12470 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Michael E. DeVine |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
General concern over the potential for foreign efforts to
manipulate U.S. public opinion and interfere in U.S.
elections has grown with the recognition that foreign
malign actors are able to employ sophisticated tools such as
artificial intelligence (AI) to conduct disinformation
campaigns. To address this concern, Congress amended the
National Security Act of 1947 (P.L. 80-253) by establishing
within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
(ODNI) the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC),
under Section 5322 of the Damon Paul Nelson and
Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for
Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020 (P.L. 116-92, codified in
50 U.S.C. §3059). FMIC’s establishment follows the
intelligence community’s (IC) collective assessment of
Russian efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential
election and “undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic
process.” (ICA-2017-01D, 6 January 2017, p. ii).
In establishing the center, Congress stated that the IC
needed to be invested in,
institutionalizing ongoing, robust, independent, and
vigorous analysis of data related to foreign threat
networks … [to] help counter ongoing information
warfare operations against the United States, its
allies, and its partners. (H.Rept. 116-333, emphasis
added)
