Iowa conspiracy theories show U.S. democracy has bigger problems than foreign interference

The campaigns aren’t the only actors culpable in spreading misinformation.
Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFR), who was monitoring Iowa for foreign influence, argues that the media also has a big role to play.

The information vacuum and overarching confusion, which could be seen in live television coverage, further fueled disinformation and conspiracies on social media, he said.

“In the case of Iowa, in the absence of information, with delayed results, broadcast media in particular struggled to create enough analysis to fill the time, so turned to speculation … those ‘could-bes’ and ‘what-ifs’ open space for disinformation to seep in. Extrapolate that to the online environment and it gets a lot worse,” Brookie told CNN, adding that there needs to be a high threshold for verification when reporting on disinformation, and a very clear delineation between what is news and what is commentary.