Online lies and internet spin paralyze Congress

As an American journalist, I’ve been threatened with violence, fired, and canceled for anything I’ve written or said on the airwaves since the rise of social media.

There’s no way I’ll forget the flood of threats and harassing phone calls I received when my personal contact information was published in WikiLeaks’ data dump of stolen emails belonging to government officials.

My life was threatened after the last Republican president criticized me online for criticizing his trade policy on a Sunday talk show.

These ugly memories are now emerging as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and the heads of the U.S. intelligence community have warned that online abuse is on the rise. is.

This flood, driven by artificial intelligence and “deepfakes,” is destroying journalism and disrupting the flow of fact-based news during the presidential election.

Bad actors are masterfully using the Internet to subvert democracy, yet the U.S. Congress and law enforcement are doing little to stop them.

When there was a ray of hope The House of Representatives recently passed a resolution to ban Tik TokThe company, which is now a major news source for many Americans, is banned from operating in the United States unless it is freed from Chinese control.

As both Republicans and Democrats have pointed out, the Chinese government could use Tik Tok data to track people, mislead voters and spread lies.

It’s as if the Russians controlled CBS and other major broadcast networks during the Cold War. Congressman Ritchie Torres (New York) He gave an interview to TMZ. However, the Senate has not taken any action regarding TikTok.

So what about Facebook, X, and all the other platforms where political lies, personal threats, and conspiracy theories thrive?

The only federal action was in 2017, when Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), and the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) It was at the time. Introducing honest advertising laws, That would restrict campaign ads paid by foreigners on websites such as Facebook and Google.

The Senate never voted on that little potato, and the limited bill died.

The cost of doing nothing goes far beyond the threat of corrupt advertising. The very lifeblood of democracy—an informed people being allowed to vote in free elections—is now being overshadowed by the growing threat of the dark web.

new york times report Last week, it was announced that former President Trump’s campaign is winning a battle to keep the internet exposed to disinformation.

The newspaper reported that “Mr. Trump and his allies” claim that regulating online lies and violent threats is a “dangerous effort to censor conservatives.” The Times says Trump’s surrogates are winning by posing as free speech advocates and spreading alarm over big government regulating content and punishing critics. the paper pointed out.

In fact, there is no clear threat that the U.S. government will silence anyone on the Internet, even those who push lies and threats.

The reality is the opposite.

Dangerous abuse of the Internet by domestic fraudsters as well as foreign governments seeking to control U.S. elections is on the rise.

Secretary of State Blinken I was warned last week He said the “most profound change” in American politics and diplomacy in his lifetime was the current use of disinformation via the internet. Speaking in South Korea, Blinken warned: “Our competitors and adversaries are using disinformation to exploit the fissures within our democracies, and the information space is becoming ever more crowded, complex, confusing, and contested. And we know that there are people out there who, in turn, create an enabling environment for disinformation, an environment in which states and non-state actors undermine the objective truth on which open societies depend,” Blinken said. added.

Hillary Clinton has expressed similar warnings.

“Past is prologue, and foreign adversaries are more motivated than ever to interfere in our elections.” the former presidential candidate recently spoke to Semafor..

As Semaphore’s Morgan Chalfant reported, U.S. intelligence officials let it be known “Foreign adversaries will seek to take advantage of the divided and polarized U.S. political climate in the lead-up to the November presidential election.”

These warnings are especially loud and clear regarding Russia, a country with a history of meddling in the 2016 election.

The Washington Post reported last week, amid red flags, that President Trump wants to reinstate someone implicated in Russian interference to the team.paul manafort being considered The purpose is to support President Trump’s Republican National Convention and raise funds.

The former president pardoned Manafort after Manafort’s defeat in 2020 through the Senate Intelligence Committee, then chaired by Republican Marco Rubio (R-Florida). report Mr. Manafort said,serious counterintelligence threatHis position is “the most direct link between Trump campaign officials and Russian intelligence.”

The Intelligence Committee also said it had obtained information that could link Mr. Manafort to a successful Russian “hack and leak operation.”

President Putin has paid no price for these attacks on American democracy and appears ready to do it again. But Congress remains frozen in its efforts to stop the lies, threats, and conspiracy theories that flow like corrosive sewage on the Internet.

Is Congress corrupted by partisan politics and unable to protect American democracy?

Juan Williams is a writer and political analyst for Fox News Channel.