All participants shall refrain from discussing any classified or other information protected from public disclosure. Second, the committee is conducting virtual hearing in compliance with house revolution 965. And the regulations for remote proceedings. Its being broadcast live on the committees website. Because the threat posed by covid19 pandemic remains ongoing, we are proceeding this hearing remotely in order m to ensure the safety of our witnesses, members, staff andnd public. All wish we could return to all standard and person events, health and safety protocols dictate we find alternate means of carrying out or oversightht obligations. Okay, let me s remind members during remote procedures, first consistent with the regulations the committee will keep their microphonese muted to keep down background noise be they responsible for under it in themselves and they see recognition they are recognized for five minutes. Sometimes our delays when commuting or unmute in, i would ask members and witnesses to allow time before speaking to ensure the last speaker has finished. Second, members and witnesses must have the cameras on it all times for a fee to step away for the proceeding, please leave your camera on. Third, if you encounter technical difficulties please contact Technical Support the channels established prior to the hearing. Our technical stock will work to get you back up and running as soon as possible. Finally consistent with past practice i will the appropriate time recognize members for their five minutes. In order of seniority and those who been present at the commencement of the hearing. Y thank you for your patience as we proceed under these extraordinary circumstances. The vast majority of the committees work work necessarily takes place behind closed doors. But we also have a responsibility to take public testimony from those outside the u. S. Moid government and infm the public about growing transit can endanger our nation in both shortterm and longterm. Building on prior unclassified be understand the risks posed by misinformation, conspiracy theories and those online. These sources are now transnational, they canou originate and incubate overseas or at home. Once if taken root and begun to circulate our foreign adversaries can advantage their malign interest by amplifying baseless, misleading or inflammatory t claims. Over the pastra several years a picture has emerged for the threat from without and state back to media online trolls is real and substantial, we cannot ignore the threatt from wishonry which goes more pernicious every day. The online ecosystem and unwitting audiences that the crumley so ably exploited remain vulnerable to unscrupulous home actors have falsehoods of their own. If left unchecked it could be a reversible damage not only to our nations discourse, but to how we as a society discern fact from fiction. Misinformation the conspiracy theories predate the internet the very nature of socialth media can propel an accurate or manipulative content, misleading claims and outright lies far and wide. And at the speed of. [inaudible] social media platforms have made significant changes since 2016. Theyve not change the foundational features other platforms thatat expose users and recommend to them often extreme sensational or emotionally charged content. The algorithmic engines that power social media platforms keep scrolling and clicking gives human attention for their sophisticated and difficult sometimes for their own designers they fully understand the algorithms are epdeniably affected by their mission, keeping users on the platforms as long as possible. Which is a prize known that controversial extreme or untrue content often engenders the strongest engagement creating Fertile Ground for misinformation to cross the internet fringes into the mainstream. This is all come to a perilous head and a set of evolving theories and twisted beliefs falling under the banner of q and r. Its precepts are arcane but they echo antisemitic tropes and often amplify White Supremacy. Alle while positing the existence of an allpowerful cabal of elites who traffic children must be defeated in prisons or killed. Against the backdrop of Global Pandemic lockdowns and preventative measures help our communities for the movement iss witnessed a huge spike in visibility and followers. The notorious pandemic video that was ripe with false conspiratorial themes and Health Misinformation about covid19 was boosted by queuing on supporters and earned 8 million views prior to removal from social media. It is incumbent on all of us to understand here and why gypsum is security into view. Not just a Conspiracy Theory its a violent worldview with the devoted followingev of adherence that a reckoning receives their perceived foes. A recent west point report warned about potential escalating terrorist style attacks driven by cueing on style beliefs and some of its affiliates have already engaged in real world acts. Hundreds of miles with her pizza parlor here in d. C. We are told Holding Children captive in the basement for there were no basement there were no captives and no injuries despite the selfproclaimed investigator firing his weapon. A woman was arrested after attacking two strangers in waco, texas believing them to be child traffickers. Thence accused of merging mob boss last year believing that he was part of the mob bars at her boss a deep state demonized for its alleged plotting against the president bring the same man wanted to carry out a citizens arrest the president has targeted including myself. In response to the openly violent and hateful rhetoric, the social Media Companies have begun to respond. Just hours ago youtube announced a platform wide prohibition targeting the Conspiracy Theory andoh since July Facebook and twitter have initiated Large Purchase of affiliated pages, groups and accounts. These are necessary pull limit our steps such forceful responses are made to be more difficult when conspiracy theories are partially egged on by the president of the United States. Just this week he twice retweeted Conspiracy Theory alleging a sama bin laden was still live and president obama had navy seals killed as part of a coverup. Such a polluted online landscape unfortunately stays ripe for adversaries. The dhs and amplified conspiracy theories and misinformation about voting or the pandemic are part of a Disinformation Campaign originating overseas this electionin cycle. Americans are voting right now in the midst of a pandemic. It could take days or weeks to count all of the votes after election day. That will be susceptible to conspiracy theories and misinformation pretty specially if amplified by align foreign actors which potentially cast ballots on the legitimacy of the outcome itself. Or make us doubt the viability our free and open democracy. Thats the area of the heart of our National Security and the oversight mandate of congress on this committee. Social Media Companies bear some responsibility by the private sector alone cannot reverse these trends. U. S. Government must remain a credible partner to recognize and address these threats also. We must be clear eyed the conspiracy theories act with domestic terror. Each of us have personal responsibilities to. Do it we can to restore trust and genuine expertise and authoritative information. Do not reflect inor the share content are misleading claims on how quickly they can catch fire. To build bridges between the whiting chasms that exist on both online and offline so we can try to occupy same shared reality once again. Even if we have different views about how to best turn that shared reality into a brighter future. And step outside of our own personal information silos that a bulk and us as a society where we no longer seem to agree on the sameon set grof facts. The witnessesk for joining us today and i look forward to enlightening and important discussion of these issues. So lets move to opening statements. We will go alphabetically by last name first doctor john Donovan Research director at the Harvard Kennedy school center, media politics and public polic policy. Ms. Nina who is the disinformation fellow at the wilson center, next ms. Cindy otis Vice President of the althea group, and finally ms. Melanie smith head of analysis at graphic out. Welcome again to all of you. Thanks for your participation and your work. Doctor donovan, let me begin by recognizing you for five minutes. Mi thank you for having me. It is a pleasure to be here in my house testifying for you all. Thank youou german shift for organizing this hearing is a very important topic. The summer junk news operations, propagandas spot by foreign and genetic operatives targeted people seeking information. The information about the election, the pandemic in the process. As Research Director at r Harvard Kennedy center i lead a team that is analyzing media melissa and chapman at pupation for their effect on society for today and going to speak about the sectors shouldering the shoot true cost of misinformation at scale. Generate 2020, facebook published a really important statement. And i quote in the absence of regulation, facebook and other companies are left to design their own policies. We have based hours on the principal they should hear from those who wish to lead them works and all. Policies like this push Corporate Responsibility onto the public and onto other professional sectors. Facebook is on to stipulate and that same statement that it has to abide by community standards. But what happens when they coordinate to blanket social media with falsehoods. Ar these cases advertising is not necessary for spreading lies to millions. All they need is a platform to work exactly as designed. Who then is responsible for explaining why a consumer was exposed to certain falsehoods . Who is responsible for making blpublic corrections when falsehoods are identified . Yesterday we saw facebook and twitter refused to let their services be used to distribute leaked materials. Over the past year Platform Companies have taken similar actions on White Supremacy manifestoes and covid19 misinformation two. It will take some time for moderation to become part of the design of social media. Just as it took a decade for medium manipulators and distant farmers to scale their attack. Recently facebook former director ofed monetization gave testimony suggesting a policy framework kyndell compared social media to the Tobacco Industry both focus on increasing capacity for addiction by slowly modifying the product over time. Legislation about smoking had to move beyond be the rationale that was an individual choice. And except that Secondhand Smoke had Public Health effects. For some time, families, insurance companies, employers and businesses had to pay the price for smoking ill effect on society. Our Research Team has identified for clear impact zones that are charged with cleaning up after the damage caused by on moderated, unregulated and unmanageable misinformation conspiracy. Journalists for instance have had to adapt over the last four years to the normalization of misinformation on sociall media. And have developed a misinformation beach. Covering thiss information is a esain on newsrooms resources. Which could be much better spent on sustaining journalism rather than moderating content. Second area of impact is Public Health and medical professionals. Increasingly Public Health and medical professionalsfe including the w. H. O. Have turned to my team for assistance in dealing with medical misinformation. Doctor should not have to become online influencers in order to correct misinformation, pushing miracle cures and bogus medical advice. When conspiracy link up with medical misinformation it can be especially difficult to advocate for the truth. Third, civil society. We are now in a position more racialized disinformation is a seasoned tactic of domestic influence operations. Racialized information refers to campaigns that either impersonate the idea identity of those of color use racism to boost issues. Randy collins dexter testified about these issues at a hearing in june where he highlighted how Tech Companies have hidden behind clarion calls to protect free speech at all costs for that doing enough to protect those subject to medical misinformation and harassment. Lastly First Responders are unfairly shouldering the burden of rumors and lies that are being spread. Your flashpoint for violence are permeated by calls to action on social media including the tragic events in kenosha. Law enforcement are at a serious disadvantage when attempting to do their jobs amid rumors and conspiracy theories spreading like digital wildfire online. I will close by saying rather than hold onto techno nostalgia for a time and social new media was not harmful, sometimes it is worth asking, what would it take to uneventful social media so we can chart a course for the web we what, i went to promote safety, equity and democracy. Thank you. Doctor donovan, we will now go to missing janco wits. Thank you. Chairmanship and distinguished members of the committee, it is an honor to testify before you today on the degradation of our information ecosystem. And its exploitation by malign actors. This is a threathr that is dismantling democracy. As americans, right now exercise their democratic right, it is critical the nation is informed about how disinformation might blunt their voice and theirbl votes. I came to study this information to the lens of russian influencein operation. My work has led me to it an unsettling conclusion. Not only have the u. S. Government and social media platforms all but advocated the responsibility to stop the threat of foreign disinformation, domestic disinformation now runs rampant. Example fight in the media, online, in the halls of congress and from the white house itself. I does our adversaries work for them. Leaving us vulnerable to continued manipulation and leaving our democracy imperiled. Today i will outline three transit exemplify the modern Information Space. The first is the increased use of information laundering to deliver foreign disinformation. Today, malign actors like russia are increasingly amplifying their narrative by using authentic local voices or organizations to conceal the origin and lend legitimacy to a given malign narrative. Perhaps the most wellknown is the Conspiracy Theory related to ukraine and Vice President en joe biden. These unsubstantiated and misleading narratives promoted by selfinterested and corrupt individuals, seeking power and personal gain or endorsed by the president s advisors, treated as fact with the media, and legitimizes in the halls of congress. Individuals that served as sources have since been discredited, sanctioned and have active connections to Russian Intelligence Services yet this week were still talking about this theory. The use of the local actors and information laundering and backing down on disinformation through constant moderation alone is much more difficult iven First Amendment. This is why this informers take advantage of social platforms and structures to fina malign narratives andndbu contribute to the trend. Conspiracy convergence, the conspiracy of one theory are exposed to others. This year, as americans search for answers about the coronavirus pandemic, close cases online to become a Fertile Ground for amplifying misinformation. Has my co panelist cindy otis and i found conspiracies run rampant across platforms and cross pounded between communities and indoctrinate the members. In particular the problem on facebook groups. Facebook is made changes to soften the phenomena but they lead aside misinformation. Highprofile accounts, facebooks Committee Standards seemingly do not apply. President trump pushes content including falsehoods about the security of mail and balloting which is expressed against the friends of Service Nearly 30 million users on his alone. Unlike what facebook policies might imply, Disinformation Campaigns do not beginning campaign on election day. They are built over time, increase stress to undermine the democratic process. When our information ecosystem gets flooded with highly salient junk that keeps us rolling and commenting and angrily relaxing civil discourse suffers for it our ability to compromise, our willingness to see humanity and one another suffers. Our democracy suffers. But facebook profits bird in 2019 facebook generated 98 of its revenue was 69. 7 billion. And finally the third trend relevant to her brilliant allfemale panel today is that disinformation often target women and minorities. We know that the ira disproportionallyd targeted against the black vote for we know that the kremlin has targeted women was sexualized Disinformation Campaigns to drive them for participation in public life. And today, ongoing project has observed an increase in individual spreading demeaning false narratives against sender Kamala Harris ahead of election day. These campaigns are meant to affect women and minorities participation in the democratic process. Every american that should categorically reject them. Overall, these trends mean that foreign adversaries no longer need creativity or brute force to be successful. They need only sit back and watch, regurgitating it amplifying what is already endemic to our socie