The writer is international policy director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center
American democracy is under threat — so much is clear. That fundamental realisation took a long time to hit home in the US, but since the assault on the Capitol a year ago, it has finally taken hold.
The fact that no consensus exists about where the threat to the foundations of the republic comes from is testimony to the depth of the crisis. Some developments, however, are clear: plans to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden were hatched on Facebook; conspiracies were spread on YouTube; and the “Big Lie” that Trump did not lose the 2020 presidential election was amplified on numerous podcasts.