Van Hollen, Colleagues Request Update on VA and DoD Efforts to Protect Veterans and Servicemembers from Foreign Online Disinformation

Report Finds Veterans, Servicemembers, and Their Families Remain Targets of Malign Influence Operations by Russia, China, and Other Foreign Actors

Letter to VA (PDF) | Letter to DoD (PDF)

U.S Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) sent letters to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) requesting information on the agencies' efforts to educate veterans and servicemembers about online disinformation campaigns and other malign influence operations by Russian, Chinese, and other foreign entities.

The Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) recently released the results of a two-year investigation that documented persistent, pervasive, and coordinated online targeting of American servicemembers, veterans, and their families by foreign entities seeking to disrupt American democracy. The report found that the Russian Internet Research Agency specifically targeted American veterans and the social-media followers of several congressionally-chartered veterans service organizations during and after the 2016 election. The report also revealed that foreign entities are targeting servicemembers and veterans for the purpose of interference in the upcoming federal election.

In their letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, the Senators noted that while the VA has prioritized the security of its information systems and infrastructure - including veterans' personal information - the VA does not appear to have an established strategy for educating veterans about online disinformation efforts targeting them. The senators urged Secretary Wilkie to consider implementing the VVA report's recommendations.

"While countering disinformation targeting veterans is not a core VA function, identifying these tactics helps improve veterans' cyber security and their ability to detect and avoid falling prey to scams and other forms of manipulation," the Senators wrote in their letter to VA.

In their letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the senators acknowledged DoD has worked to deter online disinformation and other malign influence campaigns by foreign adversaries, but they also called on the Department to implement VVA's recommendations, consistent with existing efforts to counter foreign malign influence operations.

"Malicious foreign actors are targeting servicemembers using disinformation through social media platforms and other online tools and ... countering foreign interference in American elections is critical to protecting the integrity of our democracy," the Senators wrote in their letter to DoD.

The VVA report's recommendations for addressing online disinformation targeting servicemembers include directing DoD to "create a working group to study the security risks inherent in the use of common personal electronic devices and apps at home and abroad by servicemembers," and to "direct commanders to include personal cybersecurity training and regular cyber-hygiene checks for all servicemembers."

The report also recommended that the VA immediately develop plans to make the cyber-hygiene of veterans an urgent priority within the VA, and educate and train veterans on personal cyber security, "including how to identify instances of online manipulation."

The letters asked VA and DoD a series of specific questions about their efforts to protect veterans and servicemembers from foreign malign influence operations, and requested a response by December 6, 2019.

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