Our current leaders don't care or don't have enough power to act. Republicans will go along with Trump until he's no longer useful and then the investigations will magically unfold. Then what? Sanctions? We can't wait that long, a significant minority of our citizens (see my relatives above) are entirely defenseless. Do we want Russia dictating the narratives of our midterms?

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So, what do we do about it? I don't think anyone in government knows how to fight back even if they had the will to do so. Back to our dear friend Clint Watts... as much as I appreciate his work and insight, I have some major criticisms of his solution.

Social-media companies should band together in the creation of an Information Consumer Reports . This non-governmental agency would evaluate all media organizations, mainstream and otherwise, across a range of variables producing news ratings representative of the outlet’s accuracy and orientation. The score would appear next to each outlet’s content in web searches and social-media streams providing the equivalent of a nutrition label for information. Consumers would not be restricted from viewing fake news outlets and their erroneous information, but would know the risks of their consumption. The rating, over time, would reduce consumption of Russian disinformation specifically and misinformation collectively, while also placing a check on mainstream media outlets that have all too often regurgitated false stories.

This will not be effective for the following reasons:

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1. The people being manipulated aren't looking for accurate information.

The food label analogy is quite apt, just not the conclusion. If I go to buy a bag of cookies because I have a sweet tooth, am I going to look at the nutrition labels of two different bags to see which is "healthier"? Hell no. I'm not there for nutrition, and neither are my family members who have been sucked in by the bots of Facebook. They are tuning in for an emotional fix, not an informational one.

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2. The well is already toxic.

Fake news. Fake polls. When's the last time you ever changed a conservative's mind by linking to a Snopes article? Politifact? No. Any source of information they disagree with has been tainted. This would happen to Clint's agency before it ever got out of the box.

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3. Social media self-interest

The masters of social media make money from ad revenue. Do they want their statistics on users, comments, and pageviews shaded by accusations of bottery? They have no interest in getting on board with this - and even if they did we don't have time.

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4. Time

Clint's solution is not quick. Sanctions are not quick. No solution that I've seen anywhere addresses the problem with the sense of urgency that it requires. Russia is engaging in active measures as I type this. The story yesterday is that they are propping up Trump's wiretapping claims . They are also engaged in the European elections . They are engaged everywhere at all times, because it is cheap and easy. Every moment that passes, our citizens are at risk of irreparable manipulation.

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