Without objection the chair medically resource recess without objection the chair may declare a recess had any time i want to go through the usual housekeeping matters todays session is an on an unclassified basis all participants should refrain from discussing classified information on Public Disclosure and the committee is conducting the virtual hearing with House Resolution 965 and the resolution of the proceedings is being broadcast live on the Committee Website because it remains ongoing and so we wish we could return to all Events Health and safety protocols means you have alternate means to carry out so let me remind members and consistent with regulations and to limit background noise members are responsible to unmute themselves when they are recognized for their five minutes because there are delays that would ask members andbe witnesses to allow sufficient time to make sure the last speaker is finished. You must have your cameras on at all times if you step away from the proceeding please leave the camera on if you encounter technical difficulties contact Technical Support they will work to get you back up and running as soon ass possible. Those with at the commencement of the hearing thank you again for your patience as we proceeded to these extraordinary circumstances and and that takes place behind closed doors and we also a responsibility to take public testimony and in the School Entrance to an danger in the shortterm and longterm. Audiences thy exploited remain vulnerable to homegrown actors who see and spread falsehoods of their own. If left unchecked there could be irreversibleck damage not only o the nations discourse but how we as a society disarm fact from fiction. These and conspiracy theories predate the internet and the nature of social media can propel and manipulate content and outright lies far and wide and at the speed. Leading social media platforms have all made significant changes in the policies and capabilities since 2016 but they havent changed the foundational features of the platforms that expose users and recommend to them often extreme sensational oror emotionally charged conten. The algorithmic engines that powered the platforms designed to keep us scrolling are optimized for human attention. They are sophisticated and difficult sometimes even for their own desire to fully understand the algorithms are undeniably effective keeping users on the platforms as long as possible. Surprised no one that controversial, extreme or untrue content often engenders the strongest engagement creating Fertile Ground for conspiracy theories of misinformation to cross the internets fringes into the mainstream. This has all come to a perilous head and delusions and twisted beliefs falling under the banner. These precepts are arcane and byzantine but echo antisemitic tropes and amplify White Supremacy all while the existence of an allpowerful cabal of evil in the leads that traffic children and must be in prison. Against the backdrop of the Global Pandemicc associated lock downs and preventive measures to protect the health of our communities, the movement has witnessed a spike in visibility and followers. The notorious video that was right with false themes that helped misinformation about covid19 was boosted by supporters and earned some 8 million views prior to removal from social media. Its incumbent to understand how and why its jumped to the public view. It isnt just a Conspiracy Theoryt but a violent world view thwith a following of adherenceo those that believe a buddy reckoning awaits the perceived those. A recent westland report warned about potential escalating terrorist style attacks driven by these beliefs and the sum of its affiliates have engaged in realworld violent acts. To investigate whether a pizza parlor in dc was Holding Children captive in its basement. There was no basement, there were no captives and thankfully no injuries despite the selfproclaimed investigator firing his weapon. A woman was arrested after attacking two strangers in texas believing them to be child traffickers. A man accused of murdering a new of last year believing he was part of a deep state which the movement demonizes for its alleged plotting against the president. The same man wanted to carry out a citizens arrest the president targeted including myself. In response to the openly violent andto peaceful rhetoric, the social Media Companies have begun to respond. Just hours ago, youtube announced a platform wide prohibition targeting the Conspiracy Theory and since july, facebook and twitter initiated large purges of the affiliated pages, groups and accounts. These are necessary preliminary steps. Such forceful responses are made more difficult when conspiracy theories are at least partially egged on by the president of the United States. Just this week he twice retweeted a Conspiracy TheoryOsama Bin Laden was still alive and Osama Bin Laden such a landscape unfortunately remains right by foreign adversaries. The dhs and fbi warned that conspiracy theories and misinformation aboutns loading r the pandemic are part of a Disinformation Campaign originating overseas this election cycle. Americans are voting right now in the midst of a pandemic. It could take days or weeks to count the votes after election day and that will be especially susceptible to the theories and misinformation especially if amplified by the malign foreign actors which could potentially cast doubt on the legitimacy of the outcome itself or make us doubt the viability of our free and a open democracy. Thats the heart of the National Securityio and the oversight mandate congress on the committee. Social Media Companies bear some responsibility. The private sector alone cannot reverse the trends. The government must remain a credible partner to recognize and address these threats. We must be clear minde mind thay can ratify followers to a domestic terror. Each of us have personal responsibilities, tomac to do what we can to restore trust and expertise and authoritative information, to not share incendiary content over claims knowing how quickly they can catch fire, to build bridges between the challenges that exist on both online and offline so we can try to occupy the same shared reality once again if we have the views how to turn that into a Brighter Future and to step outside of our own personal information silosur that have vulcanized uss a society where we no longer seem to agree on the same set of facts. I want to thank the witnesses for joining us today and i look forward to the important discussion on these issues. Lets move to opening statements. We will go alphabetically by last a name first, doctor donov, Research Director at the center on media politics and public policy. The disinformation fellow at the center and next Vice President of the group and finally melanie smith, head of an analysis. Welcome again and thank you for your participation and work. Doctor donovan let me begin by recognizing you for five minutes. Thank you for having me and its a pleasure to be here in my house testifying for you all. Thank you for organizing the hearing. Its an important topic. This summer the Disinformation Campaigns and propaganda spun out by the foreign and domestic operatives targeted people seeking information about the election, the pandemic and the protests. As the Research Director of the Kennedy Center i lead a team analyzing Disinformation Campaigns for their effect on society. Today i will speak about the tctors shouldering the information at a scale. In j january 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. Weve based hours on the principal people should be able to hear from those who wish to lead them. Policies like this push Corporate Responsibility onto the public and other professional sectors. Facebook goes on to stipulate in the same statement paid advertising will have to abide by Community Standards. But what happens when political and media elites coordinate to blanket with falsehoods. Inin these cases advertising ist necessary for spreading lies to millions because all they need is for the platform to work as designed. Who then is responsible for explaining why a consumer was exposed to certain falsehoods and who is responsible for making public direction when the falsehoods are identified. Yesterday we saw facebook and twitter refuse to lend their services. The past year Platform Companies have taken similar actions on manifestoesacist and covid19 misinformation. It will take time for the moderation to become part of the design of social media. Recently facebook former director gave testimony before congress that suggested a new policy framework for assessing a the medias negative effects on sosociety and compared the socil media to the Tobacco Industry because both focused on increasing the capacity by. Lowly modifying their products over time. The legislation about smoking had to move beyond the rationale that it was an individual choice and accept thatpt secondhand sme had a Public Health effect. For some time families, Insurance Companies and businesses. The price for smokings effectsm on society. The Research Team identified four impacted zones charged with cleaning up after the damage guused by unmoderated, unregulated and misinformation Conspiracy Theory. Journalists, for instance, have had to adapt over the last four years to the normalization of mmisinformation on social media and have developed a misinformation beat but covering this is a drain on the news rooms and resources which could be better spent on sustaining journalism rather than moderating content on the platform. Second area of impact is Public Health on medical professionals. Increasingly Public Health and medical professionals including the who have turned to my team for assistance in dealing with the medical misinformation. The doctors shouldnt have to become online influencers in order to correct. When conspiracys link up with medical misinformation it can be especially difficult to advocate for the truth. Third, civil society. We are now in the position where racialized disinformation is a seasoned tactic of domestic and foreign influence operations. Racialized disinformation refers to campaigns that either impersonate the identities or use racism to boost polarization on issues. Randy collins dexter recently testified about these at a hearing in june where she highlighted how companies have hidden behind a clarion call is to protect all cost without doing enough to protect the subject is in medical misinformation, hate speech and harassment on social media. Last, Law Enforcement personnel and First Responders are unfairly shouldering thenf burdn of rumors and lies that are being spread. Flashpoints 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 dota their job amidst rumors and conspiracy theories spreading like digital wildfire online and i will close by saying rather than holding onto the nostalgia for the time when social media wasnt as harmful sometimes it is worth asking what would it take to uninvent a social media so that we could chart a course for the web we want that promotes safety, equity and democracy. Thank you. Chairman schiff and distinguished members of the committee its an honor to testify before you today on the degradation of the information ecosystem and its exploitation of malign actors. This is a threat that is dismantling democracy. As americans right now exercise their democratic rights it is critical the nation is informed about how disinformation might blend their voice and vote. I came to study disinformation through the lens of russian influence operations. My work has led me to an unsettling conclusion. Not only has the u. S. Government and social media platforms all but abdicated the responsibility to stop the threat of the foreign disinformation, domestic disinformation runs rampant. Its amplified in the media, online, in the halls of congress and from the white house itself. It does the adversaries work for them leaving us vulnerable to the manipulation and leaving our democracy imperiled. Today i will outline three trends that exemplify the modern Information Space. First is the increased use of information laundering to deliver the foreign disinformation. Today maligned actors like russia are increasingly amplifying by using authentic local voices or organizations to conceal the origin and run legitimacy to the given maligned narrative. Perhaps the most wellknown example of the informationll laundering and one that the committee knows intimately as the nexus of conspiracy theories related to ukraine and Vice President joe biden. These unsubstantiated narratives provided by selfinterest and corrupt individuals seeking power and personal gain were endorsed by the president said fighters treated as fact by thev portions of the media and legitimized within the halls of congress. Individuals that served as sources for these theories have been discredited, sanctioned and revealed to have active connections to the Russian Intelligence Services and yet this week wee are still talking about these theories. The use of local actors and information laundering makes tracking down the disinformation through content moderation alone much more difficult given the First Amendment protections. This is why they take advantage of social platforms to feed the maligned narratives and contribute to todays backend trend, conspiracy convergence. When the adherence of one theory is exposed to and encouraged to spread others. This year as americans search for answers about the coronavirus pandemic, closed spaces online have become a Fertile Ground for amplifying the disinformation. As my co panelist and i have found, conspiracy is run rampant across platforms and cross pollinate between the communities and indoctrinate new members. Thiss. Is a problem on facebook groups in particular. Facebook has made changes to soften the phenomenon but they lead the most pernicious source of disinformation, highprofile accounts to which the Community Standards seemingly do not apply. President trump pushes content including falsehoods about the ifety and security of the mailin ballots which is against the facebook terms of service to nearly 30 million users on his page alone. Unlike what facebooks policies might in plight, Disinformation Campaigns do not begin and end ont election day. They are built over time, trafficking emotion and increased trust to undermine the democratic process as a whole. When our information ecosystem gets flooded with the land junk that keeps us scrolling and commenting and reacting, civil discourse suffers. Our ability to compromise, our ababwillingness to see humanityn one another suffers, our democracy suffers. But facebook profits. In 2019, facebook generated 98 of itsce revenue, a whopping 69. 7 billion from ads. And finally, the third trend relevant to the allfemale panel today is the disinformation often targets women and minorities. Wean know that the ira disproportionately targeted black voters to suppress the black vote. We know that the kremlin targeted women with Disinformation Campaigns meant to drive them from participation in public life and today an ongoing project observed an increase in individual spreading of demeaning fall false narratis against senator harris ahead of election day. These campaigns are meant to affect american women and minorities participation in the democratic process. Every american should categorically reject them. Overall, these trends mean the foreign adversary is no longer need creativity or brute force to be successful. They need only sit back and watch, regurgitating and amplifying what is already endemic to the society. Nineteen days before the voting closesre i believe we are more vulnerable to the online disinformation than the foreign and domestic sources than ever before. Any of the recommendations we discussed need an underlining recognition that any government that claims to fight disinformation originating from outside the borders cannot do so while it embraces the same methods. Disinformation is a threat to democracy no matter what Political Party it benefits. It is long past due that we begin to address the challenge to the very foundation of the country and its values. My testimony details the urgent changes necessary to heal the ecosystem and i look forward to discussing them with you later today. Thank you so much. Thank you mr. Chairman, members and co panelists. Im honored to appear before the committee especially during this critical time in the nations history. Im here to lay out the threats as i see them from the range of actors both foreign and domestic amplifying falls information to influence and manipulate the american people. My analysis is informed by the decade i spent at the cia as an officer and director of an analysis serving the country