Key facts_
At least 126 million Americans saw disinformation produced by Russian agents during the 2016 election.
Russia targeted the elections systems in all 50 states and stole the personal information of 500,000 U.S. voters.
Russia also hacked the voting databases in two Florida counties and Illinois ahead of the November 2016 election, and was also in a position to manipulate voter registration data in a few states.
Foreign cyberattacks targeted Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, and Hillary Clinton throughout 2016.
China infiltrated the Federal Election Commission and crashed databases tracking how money is raised and spent in our elections.
Facebook has to remove at least 1 million fake accounts a day before they can spread misinformation.
Twitter has removed at least 14,000 accounts tied to foreign influence operations by Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and more since October 2018.
More than half of Americans are still very concerned about foreign interference in the 2020 election.
Congress can fix this_
Problem:
Russia, Iran, and others seek to use hidden disinformation campaigns on the largest social media platforms to divide Americans and spread propaganda.
Solution:
The Honest Ads Act would directly counter the tactics used throughout the 2016 election that led to more than 126 million Americans consuming misinformation.
Problem:
Our election infrastructure at the state and federal levels is vulnerable and has been penetrated in the past by private and foreign actors.
Solution:
The Secure Elections Act helps better safeguard our political system while reaffirming each state’s role in administering federal elections. Portions of the act passed at the end of 2019, including $425 million in election security money.
Problem:
Foreign actors will continue dedicating economic resources into disrupting our political system.
Solution:
The DETER Act will sanction countries found to be interfering in our elections. Provisions of the act were included in the National Defense Authorization Act.
Problem:
Foreign actors abuse loopholes in our lobbying laws to wage secret influence campaigns among our nation’s leaders.
Solution:
The Foreign Agents Disclosure and Registration Enhancement Act will modernize and enforce lobbying laws on the books and impose real penalties for rule breakers.
Problem:
Foreign actors could already be using our tax system to funnel money into U.S. elections and Americans would never know.
Solution:
The Shell Company Abuse Act will stop foreigners from using tax loopholes to engage in illegal political activity.
Read what key lawmakers are saying about foreign interference in our elections.