How Americans fell for Russian disinformation

As the United States marks the first anniversary of President DonaldTrump’s election, the question of how Trump won still commandsattention, with Russia’s role moving increasingly to centre stage. Eachnew revelation in the investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016campaign brings the vulnerability of the US democratic process intosharper focus.Last week, Congress unveiled legislation that would force Facebook,Google, and other social media giants to disclose who buys onlineadvertising, thereby closing a loophole that Russia exploited during theelection. But making amends through technical fixes and public promisesto be better corporate citizens will solve only the most publicisedproblem.The tougher challenge will be strengthening institutions that are vitalto the functioning of democracy – specifically, civics education andlocal journalism. Until gains are made in these areas, the threat toAmerica’s democratic process will grow, resurfacing every time thecountry votes.Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intelligence operatives chose wiselyin mounting their social media attack. Facebook hosts nearly 80% of allmobile social media traffic, while Google accounts for close to 90% ofall online-search-related advertising. By inundating these two platformswith automated messages from tens of thousands of bogus user accounts,Russia was able to stoke discord along economic, racial, and politicallines.Moreover, they did it cheaply. According to one analysis, with onlymodest ad purchases on Facebook, Russian agents gained access to agoldmine of online advertising data – such as Facebook’s customertargeting software – which enabled the “sharing” of Russia’s fake newshundreds of millions of times. At one point during this clandestineassault, an estimated 400,000 bots – software applications that runautomated scripts – sent millions of fictitious political messages,which in turn generated some 20% of all Twitter traffic during the finalmonth of the campaign.It is bad enough that the technology world’s marquee names were notprepared to parry foreign meddling in America’s most important election.But the social media giants’ persistent denial of responsibility forthe volume of distorted and false information delivered as news, even asRussia’s role has grown clearer, is more troubling.Strip away the technobabble about better algorithms, more transparency,and commitment to truth, and Silicon Valley’s “fixes” dodge a simplefact: its technologies are not designed to sort truth from falsehoods,check accuracy, or correct mistakes. Just the opposite: they are builtto maximise clicks, shares, and “likes.”Despite pushing to displace traditional news outlets as the world’sinformation platforms, social media’s moguls appear content to ignorejournalism’s fundamental values, processes, and goals. It is thisirresponsibility that co-sponsors of the recent advertising transparencybill are seeking to address.Still, Russia’s success in targeting American voters with bogus newscould not have succeeded were it not for the second problem: a poorlyeducated electorate susceptible to manipulation. The erosion of civicseducation in schools, the shuttering of local newspapers – and theconsequent decline in the public’s understanding of issues and thepolitical process – conspire to create fertile ground for the sowing ofdisinformation.Consider the evidence: In 2005, an American Bar Association survey foundthat 50% of Americans could not correctly identify the country’s threebranches of government. By the time the Annenberg Centre for PublicPolicy asked the same question in 2015, the percentage of suchrespondents had grown to two thirds, and a staggering 32% could not namea single branch. This slippage is apparently age-dependent; a 2016study of Americans with university degrees found that those over 65years of age know far more about how their government works than thoseunder 34.There is a clear correlation between democratic illiteracy and ade-emphasis on civics, government, and history education in schools. In2006, for example, a national study that tracks student performance invarious subjects found that only a quarter of America’s 12th graderswere proficient in civics. A decade later, that percentage had sunkbelow 25%.Not surprisingly, overall educational quality and access to basic civicscoursework have also suffered in recent years. In 2011, a think tankthat ranks the 50 states on the rigour of their high schools’ US historycourses gave 28 states failing grades. A 2016 survey of 1,000 liberalarts colleges found that only 18% required a US history or governmentcourse to earn a degree.High school or university courses by themselves will not keep gulliblevoters from falling for bogus news or inflammatory disinformation. Butthe viral spread of fake news stories initiated by Russian agents madeone thing clear: an electorate lacking a basic civics education is morelikely to fall for provocations designed to inflame partisan tensions.Changes in the news industry are increasing that risk. As Internetgiants siphon away advertising revenue from traditional media outlets,social media have become many people’s main source of news. Traditionalnews organisations, especially local newspapers, are steadilydisappearing, shrinking voters’ access to information that is vital tomaking informed political decisions.The numbers are striking. Since 2004, 10% of all small-market newspapershave closed or merged. Of those that survive, over a third have changedownership, concentrating the industry into fewer hands. The result hasbeen layoffs, cost-cutting, and diminished reporting on national andlocal issues.As for the media’s civic responsibility, that, too, seems to havesuffered. The managers’ manual from one investment firm that owns threedaily and 42 weekly newspapers does not mince words: “Our customer isthe advertiser,” the document states. “Readers are our customers’customers,” so “we operate with a lean newsroom staff.”Russia’s intervention in the 2016 US presidential election was historic,but it was also symptomatic of bigger challenges facing Americans. Apopulation that does not fully understand its own democracy shouldconcern not only civics teachers, but national security experts as well.The US didn’t need Putin to deliver that lesson. “If a nation expectsto be ignorant and free,” Thomas Jefferson warned, “it expects whatnever was and never will be.” – Project Syndicate* Kent Harrington, a former senior CIA analyst and Director of PublicAffairs, served as National Intelligence Officer for East Asia and Chiefof Station in Asia.