Building Influence Immunity Can Strengthen the Integrity of U.S. Elections

As the 2024 elections draw closer, U.S. election integrity can be strengthened by fortifying our cognitive defenses against malign influence from anyone, from anywhere, and for any reason. The integrity of our elections depends on each citizen exercising their right to vote free of outside undue influence. Each citizen, regardless of their electoral predilection, has an inalienable right to cast a vote based on their own beliefs, values, and independent thinking. 

Malign influence interferes with independent thinking by hijacking one’s ability to cognitively defend itself from unconscious influence tactics by the same means that cognitive bias, that is, unconscious mental errors, erroneously shape our perception. Influence tactics can be our own cognitive biases leveraged against us, such as using confirmation bias to solidify an opinion. Or, they can be influence principles such as “social proof,” when we look to others to guide our thinking and behavior or “authority,” when we tend to unconsciously believe, or give more credence to, those we perceive as experts or who are in powerful or leadership positions. Those influence tactics proliferate others’ agendas, are intrusive, and implicitly act on our cognition in ways we cannot consciously identify or thwart. 

For example, heading into the 2022 U.S. elections, Chinese state media created accounts on TikTok which amplified their goals to sow doubt and confusion in U.S. democracy and malign politicians they perceived as anti-China. Posts denigrating Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), who were both sanctioned by China in 2020, used hashtags including “#news,” “#newsnewstoks,” “#guncontrol,” “#election,” and “#midterms.” Nothing in those posts indicated they were made by a foreign government.

This Chinese campaign used several influence tactics, including:

• Authority: The videos were posted by accounts such as “newstokss” and “NewsToks,” which are authoritative sounding sources, on a platform most users will tend to believe is a source of legitimate information.
• Social Proof: Those “NewsToks” videos garnered 8.3 million views, a significant viewership that confers legitimacy. Additionally, the more we see something, the more we tend to incorporate it into our cognitive schema as true. Repeatability begets believing, particularly as we tend to unconsciously search for information that substantiates this new belief (i.e., confirmation bias).

During the leadup to the 2022 U.S. elections, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) also created SM accounts impersonating U.S. voters that spread disinformation and targeted U.S. politicians. Chinese digital influence tactics are increasing in effectiveness, incorporating AI-derived materials and drawing higher levels of engagement from authentic SM users than ever before. Likeability (e.g., using American-seeming personas that are relatable to the U.S. population), amplification, and authority (e.g., using a trusted platform) are all influence tactics leveraged by the CCP to influence Americans’ political perspective. Ahead of the 2024 elections, Meta has already removed thousands of Facebook accounts it has identified as the Chinese government posing as American citizens posting about U.S. politics to incite confusion and promote pro-China attitudes. Whether the influencer is amplifying their agenda or spreading misinformation, there is an underlying cognitive impact that cannot be avoided.

However, there is a way for every American to reduce the harmful effects of malign influence: build influence immunity. This immunity strengthens an individual’s ability to thwart incoming influence tactics. Decades of social science research demonstrate that exposing oneself to a sample influence tactic and then consciously processing it can guard against future, more substantive, influence campaigns—even when the future tactics are different, bolder, or more egregious than the first.

Psychologically, this process acts to “pre-bunk” malign information by building our healthy skepticism and increasing our awareness. This buttresses resilience to harmful influence over time. The influence immunity process is

• particularly effective when influence challenges are unpredictable, unforeseen, or in a fast-paced environment;
• enables you to avoid quick automatic thinking that can leave you susceptible to influence attacks; and
• low risk, free, and fast. Sixty seconds is all you need to consider how an influence tactic is trying to alter your decisions.

The three-step BID process, described in the graphic accompanying this piece, can help train your brain to consider the credibility of incoming information.

Critics could suggest that the BID process will not prevent all malicious influence attacks looking to sway U.S. election outcomes. I agree. No panacea exists for the long-standing influence capability intending to steer the outcome of U.S. elections against the will of American citizens. However, research suggests that with repetition and time, this exercise can increase our ability to thwart malicious influence. Thus, building influence immunity can strengthen national security by thwarting malevolent influence campaigns and increasing the resiliency of individual citizens—which also improves public health and media literacy.

U.S. citizens have a right to develop their own belief systems based on their individual values, mores, and ideas. They also have a responsibility to counter undue influence whenever possible. Building influence immunity acts to defeat malign influence campaigns by stopping their spread and is low risk and free. It prevents the influence from tapping into unconscious cognitive effects, thereby disabling it from changing our belief system. Instead, influence efforts are met with healthy skepticism and critical thinking. Building influence immunity is a small, but significant, step each American can take to ensure their vote is as clear of undue influence as possible.

This post was written for the Council on Foreign Relations’ Renewing America initiative—an effort established on the premise that for the United States to succeed, it must fortify the political, economic, and societal foundations fundamental to its national security and international influence. Renewing America evaluates nine critical domestic issues that shape the ability of the United States to navigate a demanding, competitive, and dangerous world. For more Renewing America resources, visit https://www.cfr.org/programs/renewing-america and follow the initiative on Twitter @RenewingAmerica.

Dana LaFon is currently serving as the National Intelligence Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are her own and not those of the Council on Foreign Relations or the United States Intelligence Community or any of its constituent agencies.