Your comment leaves me quite confused. May I ask some questions for clarification?
(1) Did you watch the video?
(2) Who is the “you” in your first paragraph?
(2) Is the Internet also as “old as the hills”?
(4) Do you see disinformation campaigns as a threat to democracy?
I will ignore the sarcasm in your post to point out that there is genuine concern that determining the veracity of what you’re “told” is no longer a straightforward matter.
In fact, I am curious to know your prescription for truth-apprehension.
I’m a little confused here. You say that “disinformation” makes you question the validity of democratic elections? Really? Disinformation is what political campaigns are all about! If Americans were doing this, we’d just say, “Oh, we have liars trying to influence people and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t”. But since it’s Russians, now we’re scared it’s destroying our democracy? How is Russian disinformation any different from the missile gap, Swift Boat Veterans, or candidates promising change but then doing the same thing the last guy from their party did?
I agree that people voting based on lies is dangerous for democracy. But I don’t believe people voting based on lies from RUSSIANS is worse than people voting based on any other lies.
Valid points, both.
Maybe my biggest concern is that, with respect to the power of its disinformation effort, it’s like Russia is using nuclear energy to everyone else’s conventional weapons.
In earlier eras, I believe there was a symmetry, or near symmetry, which presumably led to, if not guaranteed, some sort of dynamic equilibrium.
Today’s order(s) of magnitude(s) greater Russian ability in this regard threatens both local regional areas of stability as well as overall global stability.
ETA: Just curious - did you watch the videos?