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 鈥淐alling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data,鈥 discussed the ongoing threats uncovered by Special Counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 investigation.
鈥淭here are concerted efforts to sow distrust into our institutions, and it doesn鈥檛 matter if you鈥檙e on the left or the right, it鈥檚 happening on both sides. It鈥檚 sort of fueling the fire, and that鈥檚 not good for collective decision making or democracy,鈥 West said.
West told interviewer Natalie Brand that the scale and sophistication of Russia鈥檚 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.
鈥淭he democratic process depends on grassroots conversations, and it鈥檚 clear through the indictment and other findings over the last couple of years that those grassroots conversations are being hijacked and they鈥檙e being hijacked not just by bots but by real people,鈥 West told Brand. 鈥淭hat shows how much investment is going into trying to sow noise into the system.鈥