Crisis in Afghanistan, disinformation in Asia-Pacific & funding far right extremists

Following the collapse of Afghanistan’s military and the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, the US and its allies are accelerating efforts to evacuate their citizens and Afghan refugees from the country. Brendan Nicholson speaks to Peter Jennings about how the security situation deteriorated so rapidly, the short and long-term security risks for Afghanistan and how China might look to engage with the Taliban. Governments across the globe are grappling with how to deal with disinformation-for-hire operations and cyber-enabled foreign interference. The challenges posed by disinformation operations in the Asia-Pacific are explored in the new ASPI report ‘Influence for Hire: The Asia-Pacific’s online shadow economy.' Dr Jake Wallis, Ariel Bogle and Albert Zhang discuss the dangers of a manipulated information environment in the region and how policymakers should respond. Dr Teagan Westendorf speaks to Ariel Bogle about her new report ‘Buying and Selling Extremism: New funding opportunities in the right-wing extremist online ecosystem.’ They discuss de-platforming trends and the different platforms being used to fundraise. Mentioned in this episode: ‘Influence for Hire: The Asia-Pacific’s online shadow economy’ report: https://www.aspi.org.au/report/influence-hire ‘Buying and selling extremism: New funding opportunities in the right-wing extremist online ecosystem’ report: https://www.aspi.org.au/report/buying-and-selling-extremism Guests (in order of appearance): Brendan Nicholson: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/brendan-nicholson Peter Jennings: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/peter-jennings Dr Jake Wallis: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/jacob-wallis Albert Zhang: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/albert-zhang Ariel Bogle: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/ariel-bogle Dr Teagan Westendorf: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/teagan-westendorf Music: 'Salt Lake Swerve' by Maarten Schellekens via the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/maarten-schellekens/salt-lake-swerve Image: Copyright Commonwealth of Australia. Department of Defence. http://images.defence.gov.au/S20212537