Sen Mark Warner: The 21st century's wars will be fought with misinformation

A Q&A with Sen Mark Warner (D-VA). 

Government oversight of tech companies is one thing, but in the 2020 election year, Sen Warner is also thinking about the various ways technology is being used to threaten democracy itself. The interview covers election interference, misinformation, cybersecurity threats, and the government’s ability and willingness to deal with such problems.

When asked, "Do you think Congress is up to the task of delivering a tough consumer data privacy bill anytime soon?" Sen Warner said, "We haven’t so far and it’s one more example of where America is ceding its historic technology leadership. On privacy, obviously the Europeans have moved with [the General Data Protection Regulation]. California’s moved with their own version of privacy law. The Brits, the Australians, and the French are moving on content regulation. I think the only thing that’s holding up privacy legislation is how much federal preemption there ought to be. But I think there are ways to work through that."