Top US Intelligence Official Warns of Global Digital Crackdown on Dissent
- China a ‘leading perpetrator’ of repression, Avril Haines said
- China spokesman pushes back against US ‘slanders and smears’
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines
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Countries including China and Iran are deploying digital repression more frequently to target dissent both at home and beyond their borders, the top US intelligence official said, raising the alarm about the erosion of democratic norms worldwide.
Invasive spyware, disinformation and other technological tools pose a grave threat to US national security, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Monday. Even worse, she added, artificial intelligence can enable regimes to head off efforts to counter them.