The Biden admin has no firm plan to call out domestic disinformation in the 2024 election
The Biden administration has no firm plans to alert the public about “deep fakes” or other false information during the 2024 election unless it clearly comes from a foreign actor and poses a sufficiently grave threat, say current and former officials.
The Biden administration has no firm plans to alert the public about deepfakes or other false information during the 2024 election unless it is clearly coming from a foreign actor and poses a sufficiently grave threat, according to current and former officials.
Although cyber experts in and outside of government expect an onslaught of disinformation and deepfakes during this year’s election campaign, officials in the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security remain worried that if they weigh in, they will face accusations that they are attempting to tilt the election in favor of President Joe Biden’s re-election.
Lawmakers from both parties have urged the Biden administration to take a more assertive stance.
“I’m worried that you may be overly concerned with appearing partisan and that that will freeze you in terms of taking the actions that are necessary,” Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, told cybersecurity and intelligence officials at a hearing last month.
A person walks toward the entrance of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region to vote in Bay City, Mich., on Nov. 3, 2020.Kaytie Boomer / The Bay City Times via AP fileSen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked how the government would react to a deepfake video. “If this happens, who’s in charge of responding to it? Have we thought through the process of what do we do when one of these scenarios occurs?” he asked. “‘We just want you to know that video is not real.’ Who would be in charge of that?”
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