US seeks to thwart election interference

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department remains committed to sharing with social media companies information that it picks up about efforts by foreign governments to influence this year's elections, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told a lawyers' conference on Friday.

Speaking at the American Bar Association's annual meeting, Monaco, the department's No. 2 official, said that though it's ultimately up to technology companies to decide what if any action to take, "We will provide companies with actionable intelligence so they can make decisions regarding abuse on their platforms by adversaries conducting foreign malign influence operations, including targeting our elections."

The comments were part of a wide-ranging speech on election security in which Monaco also warned that Russia remains the primary foreign threat to elections, with Moscow targeting specific voting demographics and using encrypted direct-messaging apps to reach Americans, and sounded an alarm about a rising threat of violence to public officials -- including election workers.

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