Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., is calling on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to do more to combat the spread of election misinformation and disinformation, especially in the age of artificial intelligence.
In a Sept. 26 letter to CISA Director Jen Easterly, Sen. Warner is urging CISA to do more to assist state and local election offices amid “an unprecedented rise in targeted election disinformation campaigns.”
The senator pointed to the deepfake robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden that voters received ahead of the New Hampshire primary in January.
The robocall featured an AI-generated voice of what sounded like President Biden advising New Hampshire residents not to vote in the presidential primary and to save their vote for the November general election.
“Such efforts not only severely impact voter turnout and participation in our democracy, but can erode public trust and weaken voter confidence in our democratic institutions and electoral processes,” Sen. Warner wrote.
“Although AI alone has not changed the threat landscape observed in previous elections, it has supercharged the threats and adjusted the risk calculus,” he added. “CISA should likewise adjust with this change in risk to ensure that election offices and the public have the necessary protections in place to remain resilient against AI-enhanced threats.”
In a Q&A report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Sept. 26, the government watchdog explains that CISA’s current work to address the risk posed by foreign influence operations and disinformation is focused on election infrastructure.
“CISA educates the public on the risks of disinformation and partners with state and local election officials to disseminate educational materials to help them identify disinformation,” the report says.
“CISA officials told us they do not distinguish between disinformation threats originating in the U.S. or abroad because they focus on building resilience to foreign malign influence operations to reduce risks to U.S. election infrastructure,” it adds.
Nevertheless, CISA Director Jen Easterly said earlier this month that while the threat environment around elections has never been more complex, election officials are more prepared than ever.
“What I’ve said repeatedly is that election infrastructure has never been more secure, and the election stakeholder community has never been more prepared,” Easterly said.
