Keeping your community organisation safe from foreign interference
Why are community organisations at risk from foreign interference?
Community organisations often play a vital role in supporting and shaping communities, influencing decision-making, and connecting diverse groups. Their extensive networks and trusted relationships make them key players in community leadership and engagement.
Foreign states engaging in interference may target community organisations in New Zealand to deceptively, corruptively or coercively:
- Access personal or sensitive information about the organisation or community members.
- Undermine social cohesion and negatively impact communities in New Zealand.
- Suppress views that oppose those of a foreign state’s interests.
- Gatekeep or control access by influential community leaders and individuals.
- Influence their leadership, strategic direction, communications and engagement.
- Infiltrate the community organisation to advance their own interests.
- Leverage the organisation’s relationships with decision-makers and the wider community.
- Create internal divisions to weaken the organisation’s effectiveness and reputation.
- Recruit influential individuals within the organisation to advance their own interests.
- Spread disinformation or misinformation through the organisation’s networks.
- Interfere in general and local elections.
Safeguarding your community organisation
Community organisations often operate with limited resources and volunteer-led structures. Recognising the risks of foreign interference isn’t about taking on national security responsibilities — it’s about identifying any vulnerabilities and strengthening your organisation to protect your members and mission.
Even in small, volunteer-led groups, simple practices such as discussing emerging risks, keeping records of decisions, and maintaining clear processes, roles, and responsibilities can make a difference in building resilience to foreign interference.
For your community organisation to consider
- Why would a foreign state target my community organisation or my role to deceptively, corruptively or coercively advance their own interests?
- What part of our structure or information could a foreign state target to deceptively, corruptively or coercively advance their own interests?
- Is there anything about my role, or my organisation’s role, influence, or public voice that could be targeted by a foreign state trying to deceptively, corruptively or coercively advance their own interests?
- Could foreign states see our organisation as a gateway to communities, decision-makers, community leaders, or public opinion?
- Are there specific causes or issues where our voice is particularly influential, which could attract unwanted attention from foreign states conducting foreign interference?
- How could a foreign state use our work, connections, or access to information to deceptively, corruptively or coercively push interests that conflict with our organisation or New Zealand’s values?