In rural Madison, West Virginia, the primary lesson on a fall day at Scott High School is on lies and liars.맥스카지노�Don맥스카지노�t fall prey to it,맥스카지노� cautions the instructor, who wears a suit and tie while speaking to about 150 juniors and seniors during a late-morning assembly.That guest speaker is West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, the state맥스카지노�s chief elections official.The retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel is on an unusual mission across the Mountain State맥스카지노�s 55 counties, visiting dozens of high schools on a quest ahead of next year맥스카지노�s presidential election to reach America맥스카지노�s youngest voters 맥스카지노� before the enemy does."You are on the front line of this war with Russia,맥스카지노� Warner, a Republican, declares to the students in a booming voice. 맥스카지노�The social media war 맥스카지노� they have targeted YOU." Part preacher, part prophetIn exactly one year, on Nov. 3, 2020, Americans will pick a president.Warner sees the coming election as part of an ever-expanding battle for truth. And he맥스카지노�s determined to warn his 17- and 18-year-old constituents.In this, he is part preacher, part prophet: teaching about disinformation ads, posts and videos while predicting the escalation to come."We know it's going to happen in 2020. And the best defense is you being educated,맥스카지노� Warner says in the middle of his PowerPoint presentation, which shows students examples of foreign influence campaigns on the most popular social networks and explains how to spot the deception.맥스카지노�I get pretty incensed about this, alright?" Warner tells the students.Below, view a portion of the disinformation presentation shown to high schools in West Virginia; courtesy: West Virginia Secretary of State맥스카지노�s office Later, in an interview in his Capitol office in Charleston, Warner readily agrees there is an 맥스카지노�onslaught맥스카지노� of disinformation targeting Americans seeking to divide and confuse. He then pivots to the No. 1 lesson he seeks to impart during his hour-long presentations at schools.맥스카지노�I tell the students this: If you are moved emotionally by what comes across your social media, that is a red flag맥스카지노� If you are moved emotionally, stop. When it's too good to be true, it probably is." 맥스카지노�I don맥스카지노�t know what to believe맥스카지노�After the disinformation assembly at Scott High School, seven students 맥스카지노� all juniors and seniors 맥스카지노� gathered in the library to share with the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit what they learned.맥스카지노�It's actually very scary,맥스카지노� Jessica Fleming, 18, said. Austin Williams, 17, said, 맥스카지노�It was kind of unbelievable to me.맥스카지노�Chloe Older, 18, said, 맥스카지노�I don't know what to believe맥스카지노� among the political ads and stories shared by her 맥스카지노�click happy맥스카지노� relatives that increasingly fill up her Facebook feed.When asked how many of them think they맥스카지노�ve shared false information on social media, every single student raised their hands; they nodded their heads when asked if it맥스카지노�s 맥스카지노�just easier to share맥스카지노� than to fact-check. 맥스카지노�The most surprising thing today,맥스카지노� explained 16-year-old senior Chase Caserta, 맥스카지노�is not the fact that misinformation is spread so frequently, but that misinformation is not a fault of ignorance but a product of another country 맥스카지노� intentionally trying to harm us.맥스카지노�All of the students said they didn맥스카지노�t realize information could be used as a weapon against them until watching Warner맥스카지노�s disinformation presentation.One of the biggest surprises to the students was the existence, sophistication, and prevalence of 맥스카지노�deepfake맥스카지노� videos, clips digitally edited to put words in someone맥스카지노�s mouth that the person did not actually say.In this deepfake video, below, the actor Jordan Peele provides the words for a digitally altered video of President Obama; Courtesy: WV Secretary of State맥스카지노�s Office "It was just like: 'Can I believe anything anymore?' It was just crazy watching it,맥스카지노� Older recalled.맥스카지노�Like, have any of the ones I've seen on Twitter, on Instagram, on Facebook맥스카지노� are they true? How do I check if these videos have been manipulated myself?"Politicians allowed to lie on social mediaVoters won't always get the truth from the social media companies.Facebook now says it will let politicians 맥스카지노� but not political groups 맥스카지노� post lies in ads without fact-checking them, saying it's not the tech company's role to "intervene."But that stance drew scorn from Capitol Hill during a hearing Oct. 23 before the House Financial Services Committee.맥스카지노� gives politicians a license to lie,맥스카지노� Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said.Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) asked Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 맥스카지노�Why should politicians that lead our country be held to a lower standard?맥스카지노�Zuckerberg, the hearing맥스카지노�s sole witness, began to respond, 맥스카지노�This isn't about helping the politicians. It's about맥스카지노�맥스카지노� when Rep. Tlaib interrupted: 맥스카지노�But, Mr. Zuckerberg, it is hate speech. It is hate and it맥스카지노�s leading to violence and death threats in my office.맥스카지노�Twitter disclosed on Oct. 15 world leaders can break its rules due to the "public interest" value. But in a reversal just two weeks later, Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey announced in a tweet that the company would ban all political advertising on its platform worldwide effective Nov. 22.맥스카지노�Internet political ads present entirely new challenges to civic discourse: machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes,맥스카지노� Dorsey wrote. 맥스카지노�All at increasing velocity, sophistication, and overwhelming scale.맥스카지노�Snapchat told the National Investigative Unit in a statement that all political ads on its platform are reviewed, but it would not say if they're fact-checked.Social media manipulation doublesThe threat is real.In a recent report, the Oxford Internet Institute found organized social media manipulation has more than doubled in just two years, with Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela launching foreign influence operations on Facebook and Twitter.It맥스카지노�s that ever-multiplying threat 맥스카지노� and the prospect of not-yet-deployed digital division campaigns 맥스카지노� that is bringing West Virginia맥스카지노�s elections chief to campuses like Scott High School."That's what they're doing to America: they're pushing the fringes further out on the left and the right to get us to fight with one another,맥스카지노� Warner said. National effort launches The disinformation lesson plan is soon going national.On Nov. 12, the National Association of Secretaries of State will launch a 50-state campaign using the hashtag: #TrustedInfo2020, according to people familiar with the effort.Individual NASS members 맥스카지노� who act as the chief election officials in 40 of the 50 states 맥스카지노� will determine how to incorporate the messaging in ways that work best for their voters, those sources said.The U.S. House last month passed a bill called the SHIELD Act, short for Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy, that would require more transparency in online political ads. No vote has yet been scheduled in the Senate.President Donald Trump in September signed an executive order that could impose sanctions on countries found to have spread election disinformation.For the students in West Virginia, deleting the deception now becomes the toughest homework of all."If we want to better the country, we need to make better decisions and research ourselves,맥스카지노� said Fleming, the senior at Scott High School.Added Kaylee Ferrell, also a senior: "Now I feel this is an obligation of me as a young adult.맥스카지노�Below, see more of what the seven students from Scott High School in Madison, West Virginia, said during a group interview with Chief National Investigative Correspondent Mark Albert:Travis Sherwin and April Chunko contributed to this report. Know of election security vulnerabilities or concerns? Send investigative tips, information, and documents about this topic to the National Investigative Unit at investigate@hearst.com.