The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has launched an ambitious new recruitment campaign aimed at gathering intelligence from some of the world’s most closed and secretive regimes, including China, Iran, and North Korea. In a bold and wide-reaching initiative, the CIA is leveraging the power of social media platforms and the dark web to recruit individuals within these authoritarian countries, offering them a discreet means to contact U.S. intelligence.
This unprecedented effort, which follows the agency’s successful recruitment campaign in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, reflects the evolving strategies of U.S. intelligence in a world marked by heightened geopolitical tensions and the growth of surveillance states.
Outreach in Mandarin, Farsi, and Korean
On Wednesday, the CIA began posting messages across various social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Telegram, LinkedIn, and even on the dark web, encouraging citizens of China, Iran, and North Korea to reach out and provide information. The messages were posted in the respective native languages—Mandarin, Farsi, and Korean—and came with step-by-step instructions on how to contact the CIA safely and securely.
The posts provided clear guidance on using encrypted Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and the Tor network, a well-known tool for accessing the dark web while maintaining anonymity. This is a crucial component of the CIA’s strategy, as the governments of these nations tightly monitor and control internet access to suppress dissent.
The agency is looking for individuals who have access to sensitive information that could aid U.S. intelligence efforts, asking for basic details such as names, locations, and contact information to initiate the process.
In a statement, a CIA spokesman emphasized that the recruitment effort is part of a broader strategy to gather intelligence from authoritarian regimes around the world. “We want to make sure individuals in other authoritarian regimes know that we’re open for business,” the spokesman said.
Leveraging the Success in Russia
The CIA’s new campaign comes on the heels of what the agency claims was a highly successful recruitment drive in Russia, launched in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. With geopolitical tensions mounting between Moscow and the West, U.S. intelligence sought to exploit the growing dissatisfaction among Russian elites and others in positions of power.
American intelligence officials have revealed that this campaign yielded a wealth of actionable intelligence, thanks to individuals within Russia who were unhappy with President Vladimir Putin’s handling of the war. Encouraged by these results, the CIA is now extending its efforts to other authoritarian regimes, hoping to capitalize on similar sentiments of dissatisfaction in China, Iran, and North Korea.
David Cohen, Deputy Director of the CIA, expressed confidence that this strategy will bear fruit in these new target countries. “There are plenty of people who have access to information and who are disaffected from the Xi regime in China,” Cohen told Bloomberg. “You’ve got people inside who, for lots of different motivations, fundamentally do not like the direction that Xi is taking the country and understand that there’s a path to helping their own country by working with us.”
China, Iran, and North Korea represent some of the most challenging environments for intelligence-gathering operations. These nations employ comprehensive surveillance mechanisms designed to quash dissent and eliminate foreign influence. As a result, they are considered “hard targets” by U.S. intelligence officials, requiring innovative approaches to penetrate their networks.
In China, the ruling Communist Party (CCP) has invested heavily in advanced surveillance technology, employing facial recognition, AI-driven monitoring systems, and extensive censorship on social media platforms to maintain its grip on power. Iran, likewise, maintains tight control over its media and internet infrastructure, while North Korea is one of the most isolated and repressive regimes on the planet, with internet access available only to a select few.
Dr. Mason Richey, an associate professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, questioned the effectiveness of the CIA’s strategy, particularly in North Korea. “It seems like they’re basing this off the success they had in Russia, but I would question how effective this will be considering most North Koreans don’t have access to the internet,” Richey told.
Despite these challenges, U.S. intelligence officials are optimistic. They believe that even in these highly controlled environments, there are individuals—such as North Korean traders who cross the border into China—who may have the means to access VPNs or the Tor network, providing them with a safe channel to communicate with U.S. agents.
The CIA’s latest initiative reflects its adaptation to a rapidly changing global environment, characterized by increased repression and widespread surveillance. Over the past decade, as authoritarian regimes have consolidated power and become more adept at controlling their populations, traditional methods of intelligence gathering have faced growing obstacles.
In this context, U.S. intelligence has turned to digital platforms to make direct appeals to potential informants. By using social media and the dark web, the agency can bypass the physical barriers imposed by authoritarian states and reach individuals who might be disillusioned with their governments or motivated by personal or ideological reasons to share information.
“This effort represents just one way in which CIA is adapting to a new global environment of increased state repression and global surveillance,” the agency said in its statement.
However, the effectiveness of this digital approach remains to be seen. While the CIA’s campaign in Russia tapped into a large pool of internet-savvy individuals who were increasingly critical of their government, the populations in China, Iran, and North Korea are subject to even stricter controls on information. In North Korea, in particular, access to global online platforms is virtually non-existent, raising questions about how many people the CIA can realistically hope to reach.
As expected, the U.S. campaign has not gone unnoticed by the target countries. China, in particular, has responded forcefully, denouncing the CIA’s recruitment efforts as part of a broader disinformation campaign aimed at destabilizing the country.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, released a statement accusing the United States of attempting to “drive a wedge” between the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people. “Any attempts to drive a wedge between the Chinese people and the CCP or to weaken their close bond will inevitably fail,” Liu said.
Similarly, Iranian authorities have long accused the U.S. of engaging in covert operations aimed at undermining the Islamic Republic, and this latest initiative is likely to be seen as another attempt by Washington to interfere in its internal affairs. Iran’s security services have a long history of cracking down on individuals suspected of collaborating with foreign intelligence agencies, and the CIA’s campaign will likely increase scrutiny of perceived dissenters within the country.
North Korea, whose leadership under Kim Jong-un is known for its paranoia about foreign influence, is likely to treat any attempts to engage with U.S. intelligence as an act of treason. The regime already employs draconian measures to prevent contact between its citizens and the outside world, and the CIA’s outreach will only intensify efforts to track down and punish those who attempt to communicate with foreign governments.
The Return of Cold War Tensions?
The CIA’s recruitment drive also signals the U.S. government’s broader view of its current geopolitical challenges. According to Dr. Richey, the U.S. is increasingly framing its confrontations with China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea not as isolated incidents, but as part of a larger struggle with an emerging bloc of authoritarian states.
“The U.S. is now convinced that it’s in not just a series of bilateral confrontations with China and Russia and Iran and North Korea—but rather, it’s in a confrontation with an emerging bloc,” Dr. Richey said. “Which obviously recalls a sense of the Cold War.”
This view is shared by many in Washington, where lawmakers and intelligence officials are increasingly focused on countering the influence of authoritarian regimes around the world. As China and Russia forge closer ties and Iran and North Korea pursue their own strategic interests, the U.S. finds itself in a renewed struggle for global influence reminiscent of the Cold War era.
Whether the CIA’s digital recruitment drive will yield the intelligence needed to navigate this complex global environment remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the U.S. is adapting its intelligence strategies to meet the challenges of a world where surveillance, repression, and authoritarianism are on the rise.
