It’s time to secure the 2020 election

We cannot wait for the publication of [the full Mueller report] to begin taking necessary actions to protect the vote of the American people in 2020. First, we must minimize the use of online communication platforms by foreign governments to suppress and sway voters through divisive messaging to favor certain candidates. Second, in parallel, the US intelligence community must implement plans to assist these companies in thwarting disinformation and influence campaigns from foreign governments through rapid declassification of technical indicators and regular updates on potential threats. Third, Congress must debate, amend and pass the Honest Ads Act to set fair and reasonable guidelines for online advertising in political campaigns. Fourth, we should enact reforms and norms to help deter future “hack and leak” or doxing operations by foreign intelligence organizations. Fifth, we must act quickly and boldly to enhance the cybersecurity of our voting infrastructure. 

[Rep Ro Khanna's (D-CA) district includes much of Silicon Valley. Michael McFaul is the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford and a former US ambassador to Russia. Alex Stamos is the director of the Stanford Internet Observatory and the former chief security officer of Facebook.]