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Facebook, Twitter and Google Berated by Senators on Russia (bbc.com)
From a BBC report: Russian operatives, likely working from St Petersburg, provoked angry Americans to take to the streets, a US Senate committee heard on Wednesday. The May 2016 protest, arranged by a group named Heart of Texas, was one example of Kremlin-backed efforts to destabilise the American electoral process. Lawyers for three technology companies -- Facebook, Twitter and Google -- were told they were grossly underestimating the scale of the problem. "You just don't get it," said California Senator Dianne Feinstein. "What we're talking about is a cataclysmic change. What we're talking about is the beginning of cyber-warfare." She added: "We are not going to go away, gentlemen. This is a very big deal." [...] Several senators suggested that more hearings and consultation would be needed, expressing their frustration that the companies were not being represented by higher-ranking executives. "I'm disappointed that you're here, and not your CEOs," said independent senator Angus King. From a FastCompany report: Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) had one specific and simple question for Facebook's Colin Stretch. He wanted to know about 30,000 fake accounts Facebook discovered earlier this year that were trying to influence the French election. At the time, Facebook bragged that it was able to discover these accounts and swiftly took them down. Warner wanted to know if Facebook, after discovering these accounts, cross-checked to see if these same accounts also tried to tamper with the U.S. election. "Your leadership bragged about how proactively you were in the French election process," said Warner, "Did you check those accounts [with the U.S. election]?" Stretch couldn't give a straight answer. "The system that ran to take down those accounts -- which were fake accounts of all type and any purpose -- is now active worldwide," he said. Warner wasn't amused. "Just answer my question," he said. "Have you reviewed the accounts you took down in France that were Russian-related to see if they played any role in the American election?" Once again, Facebook couldn't answer.
The voter turnout for the 2016 election was a 20-year low. The problem was not how many people voted, but that they were A) intentionally misinformed and B) given a poor choice of candidates.
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
The voter turnout for the 2016 election was not a 20-year low.
FTFY. Turnout in 1996: 51.7% (Clinton vs Dole). Peak in 2008: 61.6% (Obama vs McCain) back down in 2012: 58.6%, then up again in 2016: 60.2%...
Source: http://www.electproject.org/ho...
The problem was not how many people voted, but that they were
A) intentionally misinformed
Clearly, as you are helping to demonstrate
and B) given a poor choice of candidates.
Well, duh. Isn't that always the case?
While I agree with your general sentiment, if you look at the details of this specific issue it was actually pretty nefarious. The summary comes nowhere near describing what actually happened.
The Russian trolls tried to get people out for a demonstration by a (fake) group called "Heart of Texas" and ALSO to get other people out for a demonstration by a (fake) group called "United Muslims of America". At the same time. At the same place. In front of an Islamic center.
Here's an article with a lot more details about it (first hit that came up on a search): http://www.washingtonexaminer....
It shouldn't take much imagination, regardless of your political inclination, to see that this was an attempt to destabilize American society. It's also not hard to imagine that this will be a continuing threat. It actually reminds me of this Twilight Episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...