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| Fool Us Once, Shame on You. Fool Us in 2020, Shame on Us. | |
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| American democracy has a target on its back: Disinformation has become a firm fixture of political campaigns in the digital age. Given the country’s polarized politics and history of close elections, the prospect that sophisticated influence operations, foreign and domestic, could shape the outcome of the 2020 presidential race is very real — and despite the searing experience of 2016, America is not ready. | American democracy has a target on its back: Disinformation has become a firm fixture of political campaigns in the digital age. Given the country’s polarized politics and history of close elections, the prospect that sophisticated influence operations, foreign and domestic, could shape the outcome of the 2020 presidential race is very real — and despite the searing experience of 2016, America is not ready. |
| A political crisis revolving around disinformation is easy to imagine. A group of voters could be targeted with falsehoods about when or how to cast a ballot. A doctored video could be released on the eve of the vote, depicting a candidate in a compromised situation or making a deeply offensive comment. Hackers could violate a candidate’s privacy to expose embarrassing personal information. If the 2020 election is tight, with the outcome hinging on just a few thousand votes, evidence of even modest interference could be destabilizing. | A political crisis revolving around disinformation is easy to imagine. A group of voters could be targeted with falsehoods about when or how to cast a ballot. A doctored video could be released on the eve of the vote, depicting a candidate in a compromised situation or making a deeply offensive comment. Hackers could violate a candidate’s privacy to expose embarrassing personal information. If the 2020 election is tight, with the outcome hinging on just a few thousand votes, evidence of even modest interference could be destabilizing. |
| We learned from the Mueller report that the Russian government meddled in the 2016 election in a “sweeping and systematic fashion” through social media disinformation and document aimed to sow divisions and disparage the Hillary Clinton campaign. We will probably never know whether those efforts changed the election outcome. By the time they were widely known, President Trump had been sworn into office. If a second presidential election shows similar signs of taint, our current crisis of faith will metastasize, undercutting not just the American political system but the credibility of democracy across the globe. | We learned from the Mueller report that the Russian government meddled in the 2016 election in a “sweeping and systematic fashion” through social media disinformation and document aimed to sow divisions and disparage the Hillary Clinton campaign. We will probably never know whether those efforts changed the election outcome. By the time they were widely known, President Trump had been sworn into office. If a second presidential election shows similar signs of taint, our current crisis of faith will metastasize, undercutting not just the American political system but the credibility of democracy across the globe. |
| While many were blindsided by the impact of disinformation in 2016, next time around we’ll have no excuse. Researchers have documented advances in so-called deep fakes, fraudulent videos with such verisimilitude that they are virtually impossible to prove false. We now know that propagandists play off existing ideological divisions to sharpen discord, including by infiltrating bona fide interest groups and mobilizing real-world protests and activism. Private messenger apps and secret Facebook pages allow the microtargeting of manipulative messages so stealthy that no one but the intended recipients ever see them. Instagram is expected to be the next frontier in disinformation, with its highly visual, meme-based interactions beyond the reach of traditional detection tactics like fact-checking. | While many were blindsided by the impact of disinformation in 2016, next time around we’ll have no excuse. Researchers have documented advances in so-called deep fakes, fraudulent videos with such verisimilitude that they are virtually impossible to prove false. We now know that propagandists play off existing ideological divisions to sharpen discord, including by infiltrating bona fide interest groups and mobilizing real-world protests and activism. Private messenger apps and secret Facebook pages allow the microtargeting of manipulative messages so stealthy that no one but the intended recipients ever see them. Instagram is expected to be the next frontier in disinformation, with its highly visual, meme-based interactions beyond the reach of traditional detection tactics like fact-checking. |
| But forewarned isn’t the same as forearmed. While we know that opponents of American democracy are bent on distorting and discrediting our elections, our response is stymied. Dozens of pieces of legislation aimed to safeguard our elections have stalled, including basic provisions to apply truth-in-advertising requirements online. | But forewarned isn’t the same as forearmed. While we know that opponents of American democracy are bent on distorting and discrediting our elections, our response is stymied. Dozens of pieces of legislation aimed to safeguard our elections have stalled, including basic provisions to apply truth-in-advertising requirements online. |
| The heavily redacted Senate Select Intelligence Committee report released this summer raised as many questions as it answered; yet relevant federal agencies have stonewalled Congress’ efforts to learn more about its troubling disclosures. Social media companies are legally immunized from liability for content on their platforms, weakening their incentive to aggressively police misinformation. There are also legitimate concerns about how to ensure free speech and robust public discourse while drawing the line at provably false information distributed with an intent to mislead. | The heavily redacted Senate Select Intelligence Committee report released this summer raised as many questions as it answered; yet relevant federal agencies have stonewalled Congress’ efforts to learn more about its troubling disclosures. Social media companies are legally immunized from liability for content on their platforms, weakening their incentive to aggressively police misinformation. There are also legitimate concerns about how to ensure free speech and robust public discourse while drawing the line at provably false information distributed with an intent to mislead. |
| While there is no single silver bullet solution to curb disinformation that may infect our election, there are a series of common-sense measures that we know would help. Campaigns and political parties need to be on high alert to these tactics, identifying and countering threats. They must come out publicly to forswear disinformation tactics and insist that all their backers do the same. Federal agencies should disclose what they know about the disinformation threat to lawmakers and the public to allow us to collectively comprehend the risk. | While there is no single silver bullet solution to curb disinformation that may infect our election, there are a series of common-sense measures that we know would help. Campaigns and political parties need to be on high alert to these tactics, identifying and countering threats. They must come out publicly to forswear disinformation tactics and insist that all their backers do the same. Federal agencies should disclose what they know about the disinformation threat to lawmakers and the public to allow us to collectively comprehend the risk. |
| Local and state governments, corporations and media companies should unite behind a mass public awareness campaign to help Americans spot and report misinformation and know how to find the truth. | Local and state governments, corporations and media companies should unite behind a mass public awareness campaign to help Americans spot and report misinformation and know how to find the truth. |
| And Congress should pass the Honest Ads Act, which would put an end to deceptive paid political advertising online, applying the same rules that operate offline. Mainstream media companies must articulate protocols for handling stolen, leaked or unverifiable information. By treating it just like regularly sourced news, they are playing into the hands of those seeking to turn our free press and open society against itself. | And Congress should pass the Honest Ads Act, which would put an end to deceptive paid political advertising online, applying the same rules that operate offline. Mainstream media companies must articulate protocols for handling stolen, leaked or unverifiable information. By treating it just like regularly sourced news, they are playing into the hands of those seeking to turn our free press and open society against itself. |
| With the immense power of online platforms over our public discourse comes great responsibility. Social media companies need to invest far more heavily in fact-checking; right now leading fact-checking services that partner with Facebook work just eight hours a day, five days a week, a woefully inadequate approach our viral, 24/7 split-second global news cycle. | With the immense power of online platforms over our public discourse comes great responsibility. Social media companies need to invest far more heavily in fact-checking; right now leading fact-checking services that partner with Facebook work just eight hours a day, five days a week, a woefully inadequate approach our viral, 24/7 split-second global news cycle. |
| Known misinformation should be flagged, demoted and corrected not just on public sites but in private groups and services where it can do the most damage. The platforms all need to implement far more robust and immediate transparency and appeals mechanisms so that when content is removed, those affected understand why and have the opportunity to push back if they have valid objections. | Known misinformation should be flagged, demoted and corrected not just on public sites but in private groups and services where it can do the most damage. The platforms all need to implement far more robust and immediate transparency and appeals mechanisms so that when content is removed, those affected understand why and have the opportunity to push back if they have valid objections. |
| The roller coaster ride of American politics over the last few years has gotten us all used to a sense that anything can happen. But even amid that wild ride, an electoral crisis centering on disinformation could throw the republic for a loop that leads to prolonged uncertainty, friction and paralysis. The worst outcome of the 2020 election would be a scenario in which disinformation makes it impossible to know who really won. | The roller coaster ride of American politics over the last few years has gotten us all used to a sense that anything can happen. But even amid that wild ride, an electoral crisis centering on disinformation could throw the republic for a loop that leads to prolonged uncertainty, friction and paralysis. The worst outcome of the 2020 election would be a scenario in which disinformation makes it impossible to know who really won. |
| Suzanne Nossel is the chief executive officer of PEN America. | Suzanne Nossel is the chief executive officer of PEN America. |
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