IT Blog

When misinformation spread across Facebook and other social networks during the 2016 U.S. election season, none of them were prepared.

Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of security policy, admitted as much in a Des Moines Register op-ed in January, writing that the presidential election cycle was a “wake-up call” for the company. “Facebook—and our country—was caught off guard by Russia’s attack on our elections using social media, fake accounts, forged documents, and other forms of manipulation. It forced wholesale changes in how we, as a company and as a nation, approach these issues,” Gleicher wrote.

Americans aren’t convinced that Facebook and other tech companies have done enough. A survey in January by Pew Research Center found that just 25% of U.S. adults were confident that tech companies would prevent misuse of their platforms during the 2020 presidential election, down from 33% heading into the 2018 midterm elections.

Still, these companies insist that…