According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Russia poses the most serious threat in this election cycle. Officials assess that Moscow likely views the election as an opportunity to pursue its broader goals of undercutting support for Ukraine’s war effort, eroding confidence in democratic institutions, and undermining trust in the United States more broadly, Bloomberg reports.

The intelligence community expects Russia to take advantage of social discord in the US, including college campus protests in support of Palestinians in the Israel-Gaza war.

Iran also intends to act as an agent of chaos in the 2024 elections by sowing domestic strife and even promoting violence, officials said. On the other hand, China has taken a more cautious approach so far and is aware of the potential blowback that could accompany election interference.

To counter these threats, ODNI’s Foreign Malign Influence Center will use forensic media analysis to establish whether media is created synthetically or manipulated by foreign operatives. The center also oversees efforts to notify targets of foreign interference as well as inform the public of emerging threats.

Related:

• Inside the USA’s anti-Ukraine network, from hard left to far right
• EU launches task force to combat Russian interference in European elections
• EU Council bans Russia’s RIA Novosti, Izvestia, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and Medvedchuk’s Voice of Europe
• Moscow inserts political operatives into African countries where elections are scheduled (2018)
• Derkach’s seven: the Russian-linked Ukrainians sanctioned by US over election interference
• ‘Trump is again OURS,’ Moscow commentators say (2017)