The longer I work in communications, the more I realize this: we are no longer just managing messages; we are managing threats.
Not the old-fashioned threats – an angry customer, a bad review, a negative article. I’m talking about synthetic influencers, fake domains, bot-driven outrage, and AI-generated “evidence” that looks real enough to fool even experienced journalists. In 2026, a brand crisis doesn’t always start from something you did. Sometimes, it starts from something someone invented about you.
As someone working with brands across Vietnam and Asia, I see three truths becoming impossible to ignore:
- People are overwhelmed with information.
- They’re increasingly unsure what is real.
- And they are far less forgiving when they feel deceived.
So how do we protect brands in a world where anything – images, quotes, even leaders – can be faked?
The New Information Habitat: No Single Source, No Single Truth
Today’s audiences don’t just read one newspaper or follow one channel. In a single day, they might:
- scroll TikTok, Instagram and Facebook
- skim online news
- listen to a podcast
- get “news” from influencers
- receive screenshots in private chats
- and ask an AI tool to “summarize what’s going on”
This sounds rich and dynamic, but it’s also incredibly chaotic. Each of these spaces has different norms, different levels of verification, and different motives. The result is an environment where:
- misinformation can spread faster than corrections
- fake accounts can amplify narratives that look “organic”
- and audiences must constantly guess what to trust
From my experience, this guessing game is exhausting people. When consumers are tired, they don’t become more open-minded. They become more suspicious. That’s why trust is now a precondition for purchase decisions, not just a “nice to have.”
When Influencers, Profiles and Websites Can All Be Fake
One of the most unsettling developments for me is how realistic fakery has become.
AI-generated influencers look like real people: they hold products, smile, create “lifestyle content,” and even build a follower base. At the same time, fake social accounts impersonate brands or CEOs, issuing statements that appear legitimate at first glance. Elsewhere, cloned websites quietly collect passwords or money from unsuspecting customers.
When you’re inside a crisis room, this changes everything. You’re no longer just asking:
“What happened, and how do we respond?”
You also have to ask:
“Did this actually happen?”
“Is this really our page?”
“Is this video or quote even real?”
That extra layer of uncertainty slows decision-making at the exact moment when speed matters most.
From a brand protection perspective, this means:
- You need protocols for impersonation: fake domains, fake social pages, fake “customer service” accounts.
- Your team must know how to verify whether a piece of content is genuinely yours.
- You need clear relationships with platforms and possibly legal teams to act quickly on takedowns.
Misinformation Anxiety: Asia Is on Edge
Across many Asian markets, concern about misinformation is consistently high. Large majorities of adults say they are worried about what is real or fake online.
I see this anxiety reflected in behavior:
- People forward screenshots into private groups: “Is this true?”
- They don’t just read headlines; they check comments to see how others interpret them.
- They trust personal networks more than institutions—even when those networks are not well-informed.
This is a double-edged sword for brands. On one hand, if you earn trust, your advocates can help you correct narratives in their own circles. On the other hand, once people feel you’ve misled them, even if by accident, they may punish you harder than before, because they already live in a climate of suspicion.
How Harmful Narratives Really Spread
From a distance, negative narratives look sudden: one day everything is quiet, the next day your brand is “cancelled.” But underneath, there is usually a pattern:
- A single post, article or comment introduces a claim.
- People with strong emotions (anger, fear, moral outrage) begin sharing it.
- Bot networks and inauthentic profiles sometimes amplify it, making it trend.
- More users see it, assume “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” and add their own experiences.
- Traditional media eventually pick it up because “everyone is talking about it.”
Studies have shown that false stories spread significantly faster online than accurate ones, especially when they stir strong emotion.
By the time a brand officially responds, the emotional verdict in the public’s mind is often already formed.
This is why early detection and early context-setting are non-negotiable now.
The Quiet Work of Digital Threat Intelligence
I’m a communicator, not a cybersecurity engineer. But over the last few years, my understanding of “monitoring” has expanded dramatically.
Basic social listening, just tracking mentions, is no longer enough. Today, real brand protection requires:
- spotting unusual spikes in search or conversation around sensitive key phrases
- recognizing when trolls or bots, not real customers, are driving a narrative
- identifying fake domains that mimic your brand
- tracking impersonation accounts, especially those posting fake statements or promotions
- understanding which sources consistently spread unreliable or politicized content, so you don’t accidentally validate them
This looks very technical, but at its core, it serves a human purpose: helping your team understand what’s really happening before you speak.
From my perspective, communications teams in Asia will increasingly need people who can read this kind of data – not as IT specialists, but as narrative strategists.
Influencer Safety: Beyond Reach and Aesthetics
Influencer marketing is now a default part of most campaigns. But in this environment, choosing the wrong influencer is not just a bad fit. It can be a safety risk.
When I evaluate an influencer today, I no longer look only at followers, views, engagement. I also want to know:
- Have they posted extremist, hateful or highly polarizing content?
- Do they collaborate with brands whose values clash with my client’s?
- Do they attract troll activity or bot amplification?
- Does their audience overlap with high-risk communities?
A beautiful feed and good numbers are not enough. Brands need to build brand safety checks into their influencer vetting processes, not just for reputation reasons, but also to prevent being pulled into political or social conflicts unintentionally.
What I Tell Clients in 2026
When I sit with leadership teams in Vietnam or across Asia, these are the messages I keep coming back to:
- Assume you will be targeted at some point. Not necessarily by enemies, sometimes just by chaos.
- Invest in early-warning systems. You can’t fight a fire you haven’t seen yet.
- Have a clear playbook for impersonation and fake domains. Customers will blame you first, not the hacker.
- Treat trust as a measurable asset. If people don’t trust you, your beautiful campaigns will not convert.
- Train your team to stay human under pressure. Technology helps you detect threats, but only empathy and clarity can calm people down.
Most importantly, I remind them: you cannot control everything that is said about you. But you can control how prepared, transparent and consistent you are when things go wrong.
Authentic Trust Is the One Thing That Cannot Be Faked
We are living in a time when almost everything on a screen can be fabricated – faces, voices, quotes, screenshots, websites, even “evidence” of events that never happened.
In this kind of world, brands that rely only on visibility will struggle. Brands that rely only on clever creative will struggle. The only sustainable advantage is authentic, earned trust, built over time through honest behavior, responsible communication and real accountability.
Digital threats are here to stay.
But so is our ability, as communicators, to help organizations act with integrity, protect their stakeholders, and respond with courage when they are tested.
And that, to me, is the most meaningful work we can do in this new digital battlefield.
About the Author – Dr. Clāra Ly-Le
Dr. Clāra Ly-Le is a public relations scholar and practitioner with more than a decade of experience advising multinational brands, NGOs, and emerging companies across Vietnam and Asia. She is the Managing Director of EloQ Communications, an award-winning agency recognized for its strategic work in digital communications and crisis management. Clāra holds a PhD from Bond University, specializing in social media use in crisis communication, and continues to combine academic rigor with real-world insights. She also serves in leadership roles in higher education, developing curricula for future communication professionals. Her work bridges data, culture, and human behavior—helping organizations navigate reputation risks, stakeholder dynamics, and the fast-changing digital landscape with clarity and empathy.
The original article was published on EloQ Communications.