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Vol. 10 No. 1 | 2023 Edition

Violet Geinger

Outer Space, Information Warfare,
and the Truth
 

Gabrielle Lim and Joan Donovan 

Despite the distance, outer space and Earth are linked. However, our increasing dependence on space-based assets makes parsing the multitude of challenges and tradeoffs more difficult. Amidst talks of great power competition, space weapons, and commercialization there are equally pressing issues concerning production of knowledge, truth, and accountability. Though these topics sometimes overlap with national security (as with arms treaties or interstate war), they also affect the broad concept of human security—the wellbeing and safety of individuals and communities. As states and international organizations consider what to do to ensure the sustainable development and use of outer space, concerns should go well beyond simply reducing the level of debris, whether asteroids should be mined, or what qualifies as a space weapon.

 

This piece is offered in PDF format for easier reading. Download the PDF to read more.

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Gabrielle Lim is Researcher at the Technology and Social Change Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center, as well as Doctoral Fellow at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, where she specializes in information technology and security, with a particular focus on media manipulation, censorship, conflict, and civil society.
 

Joan Donovan is Research Director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy, leading the Technology and Social Change Research Project to examine media manipulation, disinformation, and adversarial media movements. She previously served as the Research Lead for Data & Society’s Media Manipulation Initiative, mapping how interest groups use the internet and media to disrupt social institutions and has a Ph.D. in Sociology and Science Studies from the University of California, San Diego.

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