Introducing the Online Political Influence Efforts dataset
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221092815 |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Special Data Features |
Special Data Feature
Introducing the Online Political Influence
Efforts dataset
Diego A Martin
Economics Department, Purdue University
Jacob N Shapiro
School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Julia G Ilhardt
School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract
This article introduces a dataset on the covert use of social media to influence politics by promoting propaganda,
advocating controversial viewpoints, and spreading disinformation. Influence efforts (IEs) are defined as: (i) coordi-
nated campaigns by a state, or the ruling party in an autocracy, to impact one or more specific aspects of politics at
home or in another state, (ii) through media channels, including social media, by (iii) producing content designed to
appear indigenous to the target state. Our data draw on more than 1,000 media reports and 500 research articles/
reports to identify IEs, track their progress, and classify their features. The data cover 78 foreign influence efforts
(FIEs) and 25 domestic influence efforts (DIEs) – in which governments targeted their own citizens – against 51
different countries from 2011 through early 2021. The Influence Effort dataset measures covert information
campaigns by state actors, facilitating research on contemporary statecraft.
Keywords
disinformation, foreign influence, political influence operation, social media
Introduction
Information and communications technologies have
increased productivity, wages, and demand for capital
(Acemoglu & Autor, 2011). They have also changed the
way people communicate about politics and access infor-
mation on a wide range of topics (Weidmann, 2015;
Lelkes, Sood & Iyengar, 2017; Joseph & Poznansky,
2018). Social media, for example, revolutionizes com-
munication between leaders and voters by enabling
direct politician-to-voter communications outside the
structure of traditional speeches and press conferences
(Ott, 2017). During the 2016 US presidential election,
social media platforms were more widely viewed than
traditional editorial media and were central to the cam-
paigns of both Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton
and Republican candidate Donald Trump (Enli,
2017). Multiple state actors have used social media to
influence politics at home and abroad by promoting
propaganda, interfering in public discourse, and dissemi-
nating disinformation (Golovchenko et al., 2020).
This article describes a new dataset on state-initiated
influence efforts (IEs) which builds on and extends the
previously released data in Martin, Shapiro & Nedashkovs-
kaya (2019). Foreign influence efforts (FIEs) are defined as:
(i) coordinated campaigns by one state to impact one or
more specific aspects of politics in another state, (ii)
through media channels, including social media, by (iii)
producing content designed to appear indigenous to the
target state. Domestic influence efforts (DIEs) are defined
Corresponding author:
jns@princeton.edu
Journal of Peace Research
2023, Vol. 60(5) 868–876
ªThe Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/00223433221092815
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