A person who, from inside the government or the media of a target country, influences its policy.
Definition based on the International Spy Museum glossary, according to which an agent of influence shapes a country’s policy to the benefit of a foreign service. By comparison, the CIA glossary defines an agent as a person who spies against their own country – that is, above all, someone who supplies information.1,2
Polish law recognises a related offence: under Article 130 § 9 of the Penal Code, as worded since 1 October 2023, it is an offence to conduct disinformation while taking part in the activities of a foreign intelligence service or acting on its behalf, for example in order to induce a public authority to take or refrain from a particular action.3
At EU level, similar phenomena are covered by the concept of FIMI (foreign information manipulation and interference), used by the European External Action Service.4
Sources
- International Spy Museum (Washington, DC), Language of Espionage (glossary)
- CIA, Spy Speak Glossary
- Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Act of 17 August 2023 amending the Penal Code and certain other acts, Journal of Laws 2023, item 1834 (new wording of Article 130) (in Polish)
- European External Action Service (EEAS), 2nd EEAS Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats, January 2024
Checked: 4 November 2026