Information School Assistant Professor Jevin West appeared on KING-TV on Friday, Feb. 16, to discuss charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for their alleged disinformation activities during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
West, who teaches âCalling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data,â discussed the ongoing threats uncovered by Special Counsel Robert Muellerâs investigation.
âThere are concerted efforts to sow distrust into our institutions, and it doesnât matter if youâre on the left or the right, itâs happening on both sides. Itâs sort of fueling the fire, and thatâs not good for collective decision making or democracy,â West said.
West told interviewer Natalie Brand that the scale and sophistication of Russiaâs disinformation campaign was unparalleled. The indictment alleges that the campaign involved a lot more than trolling on social media. Russians allegedly used fake personas to send press releases to media outlets and plan rallies.
âThe democratic process depends on grassroots conversations, and itâs clear through the indictment and other findings over the last couple of years that those grassroots conversations are being hijacked and theyâre being hijacked not just by bots but by real people,â West told Brand. âThat shows how much investment is going into trying to sow noise into the system.â