ChinAI Pod #3: The Worldwide Web of Chinese and Russian Information Controls with Valentin Weber

Welcome to the third episode of the ChinAI podcast, hosted by Jeff Ding. Our guest today is Valentin Weber, a DPhil Candidate in Cyber Security at the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security, University of Oxford. He joins the ChinAI Pod to discuss his latest report, “The Worldwide Web of Chinese and Russian Information Controls,” supported by the Open Technology Fund. It presents a typology of information controls (ranging from propaganda to surveillance), compares Chinese and Russian models of information control, and analyzes the possible causes and impacts of the expanding reach of Chinese and Russian information controls. Valentin’s findings are based on his own meticulous sourcing as well as his painstaking synthesis of secondary sources, documenting the diffusion of Chinese and Russian information controls to over 100 countries over the course of thirteen years.

More broadly, Valentin is interested in how the cyber domain is changing conflicts and state strategies. His current research focuses on the integration of cyber and grand strategy, as well as on the role of information controls in state strategies. He previously worked for the International Security Department at Chatham House.

*****Timestamps: Briefing Checklist (0:43); Debate the Guest (16:00); Footnote Fever (42:40); Trust the Process (51:45)

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