Washington Can Fight Against Disinformation by Tapping into the Power and Persuasion of Greenland’s Women
By Cynthia Neil, guest contributor
Actions and rhetoric that create mistrust of the American government can undermine security goals in the region.
Disinformation, blending lies with influence ops to erode alliances without firing a shot, is a classic tool of hybrid warfare Russia and China deploy in the Arctic. Today, disinformation is being used to exploit women and children in Greenland, where colonial traumas amplify fears of lost sovereignty. This turns rhetoric into a wedge that alienates Greenland's families from the United States and undermines its Arctic goals.
Greenland is a small, close-knit society of approximately 56,000 people. Relatively few journalists report on the news there, and not many Greenlanders consume news produced by Danish media outlets. Rather, Greenlanders often rely on news shared and reshared by friends and relatives on Facebook, Studies demonstrate information shared by known or mutual acquaintances on social media has greater influence on readers than traditional news sources. Unlike larger societies that require false amplification to spread disinformation, social overlap in Greenland allows for rapid, organic, uptake of so-called “fake news.” A 2024 study by the Digital Infrastructure Think Tank found almost no incidence of disinformation on social media channels in Greenland. By January 2025, that had changed.
Two events are likely drivers of the rise in disinformation in Greenland. First, during the lead up to the national elections on March 11, 2025, the Danish Intelligence and Security Service determined that Russian disinformation was circulating on Greenlandic social media. Russian attempts to influence political discourse across the Arctic have been identified.The inauguration of President Donald J. Trump in January 2025, and his administration’s aim to increase American presence in Greenland may explain a sudden spike in observed disinformation in the region.
Political rhetoric, amplified by bots, often harms women and children most, due to their higher use of social media. By January 2026, media reports and disinformation exploiting President Trump’s threats to “take” Greenland began to negatively impact women and families. Anecdotal reports from parents described increased anxiety and insomnia in children. Women specifically spoke of feelings of vulnerability caused by threats of forced acquisition by the American government. Greenlandic women and children experienced disproportionate harms during darker episodes of Danish colonization, including forced birth control and sterilization and family separation. Social ills related to poverty and substance abuse have rocked Greenlandic society, which suffers from one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Proponents of independence from Denmark have long cited past abuses by that government as a driving force toward full sovereignty. However, Greenlandic women equate loss of national sovereignty to loss of personal autonomy. Moreover, traditional Inuit beliefs about collective ownership of land are at odds with plans for private ownership and exploitation of critical minerals and development. Actions and rhetoric that create mistrust of the American government can undermine security goals in the region. Greenlandic families overwhelmingly seek full independence and self-governance, values shared by traditional conservatives in America. Pro-life, family values that recognize individual rights, honor the dignity of the human person–exemplified by self-determination–and protect women and children by preserving families are American strengths in the ongoing dialogue with Greenlanders. Aggressive rhetoric undermines hearts-and-minds persuasion, handing bad actors wedges to fracture NATO. Threats to their sovereignty alienate Greenlanders, while adversaries amplify mistrust to court alienated Europeans for soft power gains. Talk of force risks backlash. On the other hand, a more conservative approach of dialogue, respect for the family, support of democracy, and support for Greenland’s women and children would go a long way to thwart bad actors, strengthen the support from allies, and advance U.S. national interests. Washington can fight back against disinformation campaigns by tapping into the power and persuasion of Greenland’s women’s organizations and leadership. This is a kind of “cooperative information resilience program,” that can help neutralize backlash to American policy and, hopefully, tamp down on inflammatory rhetoric.