FBI, DHS Warn That ‘Foreign Actors’ Could Try To Disseminate Misinformation About Election Results

As the November, 3 general election draws near, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are issuing a warning about the potential for the spreading of disinformation about the election results.

The two agencies released a public service announcement on Tuesday that read, “Foreign actors and cybercriminals could create new websites, change existing websites, and create or share corresponding social media content to spread false information in an attempt to discredit the electoral process and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions.”

“State and local officials typically require several days to weeks to certify elections’ final results in order to ensure every legally cast vote is accurately counted. The increased use of mail-in ballots due to COVID-19 protocols could leave officials with incomplete results on election night,” the announcement added.

The agencies said malicious actors could try to “exploit” the period it takes for state officials to certify the election results. The announcement also said that individuals could share misinformation about voter suppression, ballot fraud, or cyberattacks aimed at election infrastructure.

“The FBI and CISA urge the American public to critically evaluate the sources of the information they consume and to seek out reliable and verified information from trusted sources, such as state and local election officials,” the announcement added.

Additionally, the announcement encourages Americans to “verify through multiple reliable sources any reports about problems in voting or election results, and consider searching for other reliable sources before sharing such information via social media or other avenues.”

The announcement also said Americans should “rely” on state and local officials for information on final election results, and report “potential election crimes—such as disinformation about the manner, time, or place of voting” to the FBI.

Finally, the announcement stressed that even if foreign actors “change an election-related website,” the “underlying data and internal systems would remain uncompromised.

The announcement did not identify any specific country that may try to spread false information about the results.