Abstract
If we have learned anything since the 2016 election, it is that foreign election interference is not just a strategic tool used by Russia. Many countries are now using social media disinformation as statecraft to attack democracies. With a relatively small investment of personnel and financial resources, a foreign power can use social media and other online tools to heighten divisions in the electorate, spread disinformation and conspiracy theories, and undermine confidence in the electoral system specifically and democratic institutions generally. The Biden administration should use the moral, political, and legal authorities of the Executive Branch to protect the United States from foreign election interference. In parallel, it should work cooperatively with allies to combat election interference using multilateral initiatives.
Highlights
If we have learned anything since the 2016 election, it is that foreign election interference is not just a strategic tool used by Russia
I am concerned with two examples of this phenomenon: the hacking and public release of private information, and social media activity authored by foreign troll farms
As I have argued elsewhere, the collective right of self-determination protects the right of a people to select their own destiny, which in a democratic polity is expressed through the institution of elections.[4]. This collective right provides a conceptual justification for boundary regulations that define the outer limits of the polity: rules on who may vote in an election, including those defining citizenship and residency; rules on who may participate in elections through financial contributions; and transparency regulations such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires agents of foreign state actors to identify themselves when they engage in lobbying and other political efforts
Summary
If we have learned anything since the 2016 election, it is that foreign election interference is not just a strategic tool used by Russia. Many countries are using social media disinformation as statecraft to attack democracies. With a relatively small investment of personnel and financial resources, a foreign power can use social media and other online tools to heighten divisions in the electorate, spread disinformation and conspiracy theories, and undermine confidence in the electoral system and democratic institutions generally. The Biden administration should use the moral, political, and legal authorities of the Executive Branch to protect the United States from foreign election interference. It should work cooperatively with allies to combat election interference using multilateral initiatives
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