Europe
EU counter-interference chief wants to create and head an European anti-fake news agency

France
France mulls US-style foreign agents register after similar UK effort

France's Secretary General of Defence and National Security wants to introduce stricter controls of "amateur" lobbyists working informally for foreign interests.

European Union, Israel
ActiveFence's ex-Unit 8200 counter-disinformation specialists eye EU contracts

Last week in Brussels, Israeli startup ActiveFence tried to get closer to the European External Action Service's East StratCom Task Force. The latter's head, Lutz Gülllner, is looking to turn it into a full-fledged European counter-disinformation agency.

The Agencies' Gazette
Russia's mobilisation, PUK ends internal feud, EU's foresight hub, France's cyber security plan at UN, defence attachés' battles in Indo-Pacific region

Appointments, reforms and key issues: every Monday, Intelligence Online reports on developments great and small in the global intelligence community. This week, we bring news from Moscow, Erbil, New York, Helsinki and Brussels.

RussiaMobilisation a pretext for settling scores between siloviki and opponents.

IraqThe Patriotic Union of Kurdistan puts end to internal feud.

European UnionEEAS seeks private sector contractor for future strategic foresight hub.

France/Germany/United StatesMacron tries to revive cyber action programme at UN.

United States/ChinaBattle of defence attachés in Indo-Pacific region.

Europe
European Commission pieces together its OSINT platform

The European Commission wants to help its member counties lacking in open source intelligence tools ramp up their capacities in the field but its protocols around contracting parties is slowing down the process.

Sweden
New Swedish anti-fake news agency boosts online investigation capacity to counter Russian threat

Like their counterparts in other Western countries, Sweden's intelligence services are looking for open source intelligence contractors to help them combat Russian propaganda.

France
Viginum slots into France administrative counterintelligence landscape

President Emmanuel Macron's anti-fake news unit has joined a crowded landscape where various roles overlap.

France
Viginum and DGSI consider partnering with defence-backed startups to fight fake news

With four months to go before the French presidential elections, Sahar and Storyzy, two start-ups backed in their early days by the French armed forces ministry, are leading the field for contracts to equip the DGSI and Viginum - the second on the advice of the first - with cyber systems to fight fake news.

Spotlight | Europe
European Commission prepares toolkit to ward off foreign interference

By getting the first version of the INGE committee's report on foreign interference in the EU out in mid-October, its rapporteur Sandra Kalniete and the committee president Raphael Glucksmann show they mean to be present in the negotiations of the legal package created by the European Commission.