DHS Seeks Commercial Analytics Support to Counter Election-Related Disinformation Campaigns

The Department of Homeland Security plans to award a potential three-year contract for data analysis services to help combat disinformation campaigns ahead of the 2020 elections, Bloomberg Government reported Thursday.

In a June 30 solicitation obtained by the publication, DHS said it wants to track social media trends from foreign adversaries such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran that could manipulate public perception on election as well as nonelection issues.

DHS plans to issue an award with a one-year base period and two extension options for the initiative.

According to the notice, the contractor will conduct biweekly analysis “snapshots” that visualize foreign influence trends and share relevant data with key stakeholders.

“There is a significant amount of foreign influence activity targeting U.S. 2020 elections on social media platforms,” the department said in the notice. DHS added that it expects the “foreign influence collection and analysis” effort to result in actionable intelligence to support election security operations.

Responses to the solicitation are due on July 13.