CRC

This CRC Spotlight examines an emerging trend in the hybrid threat landscape, exemplified by the UNK_SmoothOperator activity cluster: Malign use of influence networks to facilitate incitement, recruitment, and mobilization by adversarial actors.

CRC maps Japan's information ecosystem and finds a two-part structural vulnerability: legacy media underrepresents civilian testimony and casualty accounts (the "Humanitarian frame") in international coverage, and social media fills that gap — an opening suspected PRC-aligned operations appear to be exploiting. Drawing on a four-module study using the early Gaza–Israel conflict as its case, the findings inform communication strategy, media literacy policy, and Influence Defense priorities.

Amid rising concern over foreign information operations targeting Japan — including PRC campaigns exploiting Ryukyuan identity to question Okinawan sovereignty — CRC maps structural vulnerabilities in Japan's information ecosystem. Using the Gaza-Israel conflict as a case study, the assessment finds legacy media systematically underrepresent civilian testimony and emotionally salient content, creating a coverage gap that social media fills unfiltered — an insertion point PRC-aligned influence.