Disinformation as Leverage

Paper 2 of 2 in the AI Governance & Accountability Dossier. Disinformation is often treated as a content problem. This paper tests whether, in documented cases, the capacity to manufacture convincing information creates leverage over people and institutions, and whether any resulting harm points to a real governance gap. It applies a six-part diagnostic (recognition, authority, implementation, effectiveness, remedy, proportionality) to six cases: the 2024 AI-voice robocalls in New Hampshire, the Doppelgänger domain seizures, Moldova’s 2025 election, Canada’s 2026 privacy finding on Grok deepfakes, AI-generated false citations in a U.S. federal court, and a pending FCC petition on AI political robocalls. It finds substantial but uneven existing governance, locates the best gap evidence in enforcement and remedy rather than missing rules, and examines the risk that counter-disinformation powers are misused. Not peer reviewed. Not legal advice. Research cut-off October 14, 2026.