US fears for foreign interference during federal election campaign

A US political strategist says Australia must step up its awareness of potential foreign government election interference — including from Russia and China.

US Republican Party strategist Ron Nehring in Perth. Picture: Colin Murty

A leading US Republican Party strategist says Australia must step up its awareness of the potential threat that foreign governments — including China and Russia — will use social media and other means to influence the federal election through “information warfare”.

Ron Nehring, the spokesman for Republican presidential nominee Ted Cruz in 2016, said Australia was vulnerable to the tactics infamously employed by Russian government-backed troll farms during the US election campaign.

The Russian interference included the hacking of computer networks and email systems, as well as the use of social media designed to spread misinformation about candidates and to amplify social tensions in the US.

The West Australian Liberal Party invited Mr Nehring to Perth this week to conduct seminars with MPs, business leaders and the public. He is now the director of international programs at the Leadership Institute, a conservative think tank.

Mr Nehring told The Australian that China posed an obvious threat to Australia’s democracy because “influence operations are how the Chinese operate”.

“Hostile foreign governments have this as an option and social media makes it possible,” he said. “People need to be aware that what they’re sharing on social media might not be legitimate.”

The International Cyber Policy Institute warned last week that Beijing could attempt to spread propaganda in the lead-up to the federal election through Chinese social media app WeChat.

It said WeChat’s 1.5 million monthly Australian users could be exposed to disinformation on the messaging service.

However, some security experts say China would find it difficult to influence the election under new laws that aim to curtail foreign electoral interference.

Mr Nehring said he learnt first-hand of Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election when online trolls, many posing as conservatives and using “hysterical” language, flooded his Twitter feed every time he appeared on television on behalf of Mr Cruz during the campaign. “I began to notice things that were difficult to explain,” he said. “Unusual language, hysterical in nature, that very often did not sound like the person’s first language.”

Mr Nehring said he believed the Russian trolls wanted to create dysfunction and division within American society. This would distract politicians and voters, allowing Russia to act against the interests of the US around the world.

WA Liberal Party state director Sam Calabrese said the party believed it was important to raise awareness of foreign electoral interference and the spread of online misinformation.