Foreign influence and misinformation threats in the 2024 US election

Foreign influence and misinformation threats in the 2024 US election
Credit: BBC

According to US intelligence, foreigners want to harm ‌American diplomacy. These efforts will continue after the election. These actions will pay attention to questioning election results once the polls close. 

According to their thoughts, a close presidential race and disputes over Congress could provide adversaries with a chance to create doubt in the honest election system. Many officials show concern that foreign groups will spread false claims and spreading wrong information. Back in 2020, when Donald Trump’s campaign falsely claimed that the results were not true. There were voting issues. Again, in 2024, there is a concern that the same voting issues will come‌ up. The Russian state media may support this idea

Furthermore, the intelligence community also warns that after the election, foreign influence will increase. This involvement makes ‌division among Americans worse. Russia and Iran, both powerful nations, have been interested in the US election campaign. Russia stands in favour of Donald Trump, while Iran supports Kamala Harris

Countries like China are also trying to influence congressional races, especially against candidates who support Taiwan.

Cuba is making efforts to influence certain US candidates this year. But it’s uncertain if they have acted yet. Their central focus is on the United States’ economic embryo. While in the past the main target of Cuba was Latin America’s community, particularly Cuban Americans and Spanish speakers.

In this congressional race, ‌Russian support is not for any specific candidate. The nation stands in favour of those who oppose Ukraine. However, most of the Republican candidates are against Ukraine. Iran, though not involved in congressional races, has previously created websites to threaten election officials.

Intelligence officials have been updating lawmakers and journalists about foreign interference, particularly from Russia and Iran, in the presidential vote. As the election nears its final stages, they warn that foreign efforts to create division and reduce public trust in the results will increase, especially in the final days after the vote. This could cause major concerns for the election’s credibility.

‌United States officials say that foreign influencers know that it is not possible to hack the US voting system. This is because voting procedures are managed locally in the country. Although they can’t change the votes, they spread wrong facts to make people confused that the voting system is working properly. 

This type of hacking, named as “perception hacking.” It simply means that people think that voting systems hack. In this way, public interest in elections is getting weaker. 

To fight this, the FBI and the Cybersecurity Agency have warned that foreign governments might try to falsely claim that hacking or ransomware could affect vote counts.

A CISA official said these false claims might appear again in the next election. Senator Mark Kelly also pointed out that many political posts on social media may be from foreign sources pretending to be from Americans.

Additionally, Mr Kelly stated,

“There is a very reasonable chance, I would put it in the 20 to 30 percent range, that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing are coming from one of those three countries: Russia, Iran, China.”

Officials did not pass any comment on Mr. Kelly’s estimate. However, they noted that foreign nations often pretend to be US citizens, spreading the wrong information. For example, Russia has the ability to hide its identity while spreading false information. 

The nation also uses ‌American networks to spread‌ fake videos and news on various online platforms. Similarly, Iran has created‌ fake news sites, which appear as ‌American news sites. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies found 19 such sites that are not real. The purpose of these sites is to influence ‌voters. For example, a recent article on Savannah Time that falsely claimed to be written by Mike Rogers, a former Republican congressman running for the Senate. This highlights the growing problem of spotting real news in politics.

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