ROANOKE, Va. – The 2024 election likely will be the most attacked by foreign forces in American history, U.S. Senator Mark Warner warned on Wednesday.
“In many ways, our adversaries could be more sophisticated and more aggressive in both scale and scope in this election even than in prior years,” Warner said in prepared remarks at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
A combination of factors, including poorly regulated social media companies and aggressive foreign adversaries like Russia, have exacerbated the threat of foreign election influence, Warner said.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines singled out Russia, China and Iran as the worst offenders — but added the federal government had never been better prepared to protect American democracy from foreign influence.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the ranking Republican on the committee, also singled out Russia. He said it has been meddling aggressively in elections in the U.S. and overseas for years — and leading the way in using new technology like artificial intelligence-generated fake content.
State actors are increasingly using private companies to conduct election influence operations, making it harder to track down the instigators of such efforts.