It's hard to have soft norms around new things. "Interference in its elections" is a new thing. It existed, of course, as a thing intelligence does. There was

It's hard to have soft norms around new things. "Interference in its elections" is a new thing. It existed, of course, as a thing intelligence does. There was "Freedom Radio," for example. That was an old war time propoganda mission which continued after. Obviously, there were more secretive versions of that. They may have involved info/intel landing on selected deaks, at select times, that promote one of the US' goals. Maybe there were even journalists/public figures recruited as "assets" in attempt to sway public opinion. These days though... two big new things are on the agenda. The first is leaks. Leaks play a very big part of political journalism, and did so especially during the last US elections. This isn't just happening in the US, but it's a good example. The second, is social media. Social media is effectively wide open to manipulation. Social Media manipulation seems to have played a significant role in the last US elections. It also plays a big part in any sub-war conflict. Russia-ukraine, israeli-palestinian, basaue separatism... It works especially well during a frenzy (like an election) when there's a ton of buzz, many sources and information/misinformation spreads fast within various social media bubbles. For example. Take Germany this week. There is an upcoming election. Germany's "alt right" is very active, expecting strong support. A recent murder of an ethnic German by a migrant has brought protesters out onto the street. Counterprotesters. Subsequent violent incidents. Think of Ferguson, for an American context. Details, photos, political statements are all actively informing people's political stances. All this is happening on social media. Its not hard to impact this stream of information to an agency's benefit. Maybe Trump would like to see the far right strengthened. Maybe Macron, Erdogan or May do... all NATO allies. I'd actually bet they all have specific dogs in this race. These sorts of activities (as opposed to eg gaining detailed knowledge of Germany's air defence systems) are/were considered "soft" intelligence. How much damage could one CIA asset writing for Der Spiegel do? That's no longer the case. A a solid social media "operation" could really change political outcomes in 2018. There are no norms for this.