Testimony of the Ghosts - 2016 Election Intervention and the Silicon Valley Disconnect, 2016-2017

Testimony of the Ghosts - 2016 Election Intervention and the Silicon Valley Disconnect, 2016-2017

The 2016 U.S. presidential election shook U.S. society as Russia allegedly used social networking sites to spread disinformation and manipulate public opinion. huge Silicon Valley platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google were abused, and a large number of divisive ads and false accounts The fragility of the electoral system was exposed to the world. The shock of democracy being directly swayed by outside forces instilled a deep distrust in the very foundations of the United States.

In 2017, Congress called legal executives and lawyers from tech companies to pursue the issue and held hearings. On the floor of the House, the lawyers gave defensive and ambiguous answers to a series of sharp questions, such as "Why didn't they stop the disinformation?" and "How widespread were the Russian ads?" It was a moment when a group of companies that had once self-identified as neutral platforms were confronted with the fact that they were a threat to democracy itself.

This memory was recalled like a ghost and cited again during the 2020 hearings. The reason was that, in addition to fears that Russia's activities were not transient and would continue, China and Iran had also adopted similar tactics. Lawmakers were concerned that the same thing might happen in the next election, and they stepped up their pursuit of tech companies. The companies, however, did not clearly admit responsibility and remained fearful of tighter regulations.

Looking back at the historical background at the time, populism was sweeping the world, with Britain's exit from the European Union, the election of President Trump, and the rise of the far-right in many European countries, social networking was becoming a tool to shake up democracy, and at the same time, Silicon Valley companies were beginning to have more influence than the state. The question was coldly posed, "Will tech protect democracy or threaten it?

These hearings deepened the disconnect between U.S. politics and Silicon Valley. Policymakers lacked understanding of technology, and companies refused to oversee it. The distrust and tensions have been repeated many times, and the specter of the 2016 election intervention continues to cast a shadow over the cybersecurity debate.