Bipartisan Senate report calls for sweeping effort to prevent Russian interference in 2020 election [View all]
Source: Washington Post
A bipartisan panel of U.S. senators Tuesday called for sweeping action by Congress, the White House and Silicon Valley to ensure social-media sites aren't used to interfere in the coming presidential election, delivering a sobering assessment about the weaknesses that Russian operatives exploited in the 2016 campaign.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, which has been investigating foreign electoral interference for more than two and a half years, said in blunt language that Russians worked to damage Democrat Hillary Clinton while bolstering Republican Donald Trump -- and made clear that fresh rounds of interference are likely ahead of the 2020 vote.
In response, Democratic and Republican lawmakers urged their peers in Congress to act, exploring the adoption of new regulations that would make political ads more transparent. They also called on the White House and the executive branch to adopt a more forceful, public role, warning Americans about the ways in which dangerous misinformation can spread while creating new teams within the U.S. government to monitor for threats and share intelligence with industry. "The Federal government, civil society, and the private sector, including social media and technology companies, each have an important role to play in deterring and defending against foreign influence operations that target the United States," committee lawmakers said.
The committee has in previous reports and hearings detailed extensive Russian manipulation of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and other major platforms with the goal of dividing Americans, suppressing African American turnout and helping elect Trump president. But Tuesday's report, the second volume of the committee's final report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, offered the most detailed and robust set of recommendations so far in attempting to bolster the nation's defenses against foreign meddling online -- now a routine tactic for many nations.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/10/08/bipartisan-senate-report-calls-sweeping-effort-prevent-russian-interference-election/
Here is a copy of the report (PDF file) - https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume2.pdf
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