When it comes to online election risks, leaders of Georgia’s Republican and Democratic parties agreed that candidates need to be on high alert against the dangers of hacks and misinformation.
Candidates should protect themselves from cybersecurity threats and viral falsehoods, party officials told a crowd of industry experts Tuesday at an Atlanta event sponsored by Google and a nonprofit it supports called Defending Digital Campaigns.
Simple steps such as strong passwords, two-factor authentication and online security checkups go a long way toward stopping a potential breach that could expose voter information or take down their websites, they said.
Combating misinformation, deepfakes and mudslinging in the heat of a campaign often requires a different — and more public — response.
“Campaigns and candidates have to spend more time than ever on their rapid reaction plan and be able to very quickly knock down those kinds of things,” Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said. “If you don’t ... you’re not going to respond in time and the narrative is going to take hold.”
Candidates can respond by publicizing information that emphasizes their positions without repeating the falsehood, he said.
Digitally altered video or audio of candidates designed to deceive voters, called deepfakes, are an emerging threat this election year. The Georgia General Assembly is considering bills that would criminalize campaign deepfakes.
“The one thing that keeps me up at night is that the zone is so flooded with misinformation that, for voters, it can be easy to paint (with) a big, broad brush and say, ‘Well, you’re all crooks.’” said Matthew Wilson, first vice chair for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “How do we keep people engaged in this process and understanding that it is just driven by humans like you and me ... trying to make our communities a better place?”
Voters can also do their part by learning factual information about the candidates and thinking critically about allegations that strain credibility, Wilson and McKoon said.
Online tools are available for candidates and voters, said Ryan O’Toole, who leads Google’s election integrity efforts.
Along with password security features, Google provides fact checks of online accusations and details about where digital images originated, he said. Google also publishes a quarterly cybersecurity threat analysis that can assist campaigns.
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