Vice President of Analysis at Alethea Group Cindy Otis weighs in on 2020 election interference

"From my perspective, the vast majority of false content that’s election-related is still coming from Americans themselves," said Cindy Otis, a former CIA officer and a disinformation and cybersecurity expert.

"For social media platforms, it’s a much harder thing for them to tackle American-generated disinformation or false information, even coordinated efforts like that," Otis said of the Turning Point Action network. "They can claim that it’s a personal political opinion."

Given the uncertainty, voters should be on the lookout for disinformation in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Otis said most disinformation tries to appeal to people’s emotions, so the most important thing you can do before sharing something is to pause and do a quick investigation. If you can’t verify a claim you see on social media, the best thing to do is avoid sharing it.

Read the full article here.

Related Insights