6 Reasons Your Activism Group Needs to Understand Counterintelligence
Having someone with that skill in your group offers several critical benefits.
Intelligence is the single most misunderstood facet of political activism. Activists often use the term to refer to any information they get, no matter how raw, and the concept of an intelligence program or process seems like a whole lot of pointless drivel to many. Why have one person whose main function is gathering information when anyone in the group can do that?
That’s the misunderstanding at play—intelligence folks do a lot more than just ‘gather information.’ If you don’t know what an intelligence person does, you won’t see why you need one.
Counterintelligence, or CI, is even more misunderstood, and very few groups use it. By passing it up, they’re missing out on a whole other level of operational effectiveness.
First, let’s answer the question of what exactly a counterintelligence person does in the context of your group. According to the US Army, “The role of CI is to support the commander’s requirements to preserve essential secrecy and to protect the force directly or indirectly.” In an activism group, that can be distilled down to this:
They help keep your butts out of trouble.
Now, if you’re in one of those groups that sees jail time as the highest honor short of actually dying, then you’re going to see CI as a counterintuitive endeavor. If, however, you’re trying to actually be effective at the work instead of just seeking clout through needless persecution, then read on.
1. Counterintelligence keeps the riffraff out of your group.
The whole point of a vetting program, which we’ve already discussed in detail, is to prevent and/or mitigate member-based problems. Those issues can range from crimes to interpersonal drama to exploitation of members that, shall we say, lack self-control.
Part of that vetting program is a form of counterintelligence investigation. Anyone with a Top Secret clearance went through it, and anyone getting into your group should go through one too—tailored, of course, for your particular group and goals. In order to properly administer that vetting program, however, you need someone who actually knows how to do one—or at least is willing to train themselves through study and practice. This isn’t a job you just hand to someone and say, “Okay, you’re in charge of vetting.”
2. Counterintelligence is responsible for protecting your critical information and operations.
If you’ve ever heard the term OPSEC, then you already may be familiar with one of the main functions of a CI person. OPSEC seeks to “preserve essential secrecy,” and each group has a different set of what they’ll consider critical information. A group involved in leveraging dirt on politicians, for instance, is going to have a much more imminent need for OPSEC than one that is mostly just trying to “raise awareness” of a single issue. The problem is, if everything is critical then nothing is; if you don’t have someone who understands how to prioritize what needs protecting, then it’s safe to say you’re either not protecting enough, or you’re protecting the wrong things. In this particular battlespace, in which even perceived opposition to the current narrative constitutes “domestic extremism,” you need to have your ducks in a row here.
3. Counterintelligence can influence others to support you.
Just because you know a lot of people doesn’t mean you understand how your group is being viewed in the greater sphere. Even if you did, do you know how to swing it one way or another based on your needs? A CI person does. Even the most beginner-level student of guerrilla tactics understands that public support is crucial. This goes hand in hand with understanding your own strengths and weaknesses as well; if you like to come up with all sorts of “creative” ideas for action, your CI person can tell you how it will play in the arenas you need influence in—long before you make a mistake that tanks that influence.
4. Counterintelligence can see threats coming, often before you do.
Because of what CI is and does, people who are adept at it think differently than the average activist. They are gamers, in the sense that they can plot out secondary and tertiary effects of the idea you think is the greatest thing ever. They see the big picture and can also advise when the group’s direction may be attracting the wrong kind of prospective member, or can offer creative solutions for problem solving. They can also recognize patterns, and understand what those patterns mean.
5. Counterintelligence keeps leaders honest.
Your CI person isn’t always going to be popular. They tend to be the wet blanket, the devil’s advocate, maybe even the one that comes across as Debbie Downer. They deal in problems: understanding them, recognizing them, warning about them, preventing them (ideally), and mitigating their damage. That means they also speak up when there is a problem. For some groups, that’s a welcome trait. In fact, if your group’s leadership welcomes adverse analysis and wants to hear those gamed out scenarios, that’s an excellent sign. It’s even better if they take that advice under advisement. If, however, your leader is prone to telling people to either get on board or get out, then they’re not ready to operate at any level other than ego and clout-seeking.
6. Counterintelligence understands the arena.
Whether you’re a local group focused on local issues or a satellite group with a national affiliation, you need someone in your group who knows the players in your area. I don’t just mean their names, groups, and positions. I mean that your CI person will understand these players—who they are as people, who their connections are, where the groups get their funding, what their goals are, and their capability to achieve those goals, as well as any potential for leverage or “dirt.” Again, this is something that is learned over time, through actual study and the creation of intelligence profiles. Your CI person should be able to explain exactly who else is ‘in the game’ in your area several levels below the publicly prominent folks, and how your groups can either play off of each other or get in each other’s way. The reason for this is simple—threat recognition and potential for support.
Well, we don’t have anyone like that.
You might be reading all this and thinking about the folks in your group. Maybe you don’t have anyone who already knows how to do all this—in fact, you almost certainly don’t, even if one or two know how to do part of it. That’s okay.
The good news is that, like any other skill, it can be taught to the right person. It can be learned and practiced and honed. No expert ever started at the top; they started at the bottom, learning the foundational concepts and building upon them. CI is no different.
To be fair, certain types of people are more suited to it than others. There are a few core traits that every CI person needs if they’ll ever be very good at their job:
Analytical personality, not prone to emotional decision making. A CI person run by their emotions is going to be highly ineffective.
Lacking the need for validation from the group, especially leadership. Objectivity and analysis trumps loyalty to people, and if your self-worth is found in the group itself, you’re going to find that your analysis follows that need through various biases.
Ability to stick to your guns when facing pushback. This can be hard, especially in groups that are bound and determined to seek out all the wrong types of attention. A good CI person in the wrong group will eventually end up having to decide whether it’s time to walk—hopefully before the group pushes forward with something they were strongly warned against doing.
Recognize links and patterns. It’s imperative that you’re able to see these because they speak to the big picture that you’ll need to work from.
Putting It All Together
Without counterintelligence, your group is functioning at a lower level than it could be. You’re going to miss threats, you’ll miss opportunities for influence, and your members will be unprotected against leverage and exploitation.
You may already be doing some of the things mentioned above, and that’s good. You might be the exact person who needs to pick up the mantle and hone those skills even more.
If you have questions or want to learn more, contact me. I’m happy to help. In the meantime, subscribe to get all of my free articles on creating and maintaining an effective activism group.
Kit Perez is a counterintelligence and deception analyst, and the co-author of Basics of Resistance: The Practical Freedomista. She is currently working on her second book, which will focus on group activism efforts.