Based in computational social science, this paper argues for cybersecurity to adopt more proactive social and cognitive (non-kinetic) approaches to cyber and information defense. This protects the cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral capacities requiredfor a democracy to function by preventing psychological apparatuses, such as confirmation bias and affective polarization, that trigger selective exposure, echo chambers, in-group tribalization, and out-group threat labelling. First, such policies advocate cyber hygiene through rapid alert detection networks and counterdisinformation command centers. Second, they advocate information hygiene through codes of online behavior stressing identity- and self-affirmation, as well as media literacy training and education programs. This supplements the bridging of the STEM and social sciences to present a policy framework for confronting information threats based on a blended understanding of computer science and engineering, social and cognitive psychology, political and communication science, and security studies.
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