The 2020 election may be over, but the debate over the role of technology in the election has only just begun. The pervasiveness of voting-related disinformation before and after the election, alongside new platform policies to combat it, has brought to the fore, as in 2016, questions about how social media and the online information ecosystem may have affected campaign tactics, public opinion, and voter behavior.
On December 10, 2020, the Stanford Cyber Policy Center will bring together scholars, tech platforms, and other key experts to discuss the effect of digital technologies on the 2020 Election. The conference will explore the role of digital technologies on election administration, campaign tactics, political advertising, the news media, foreign propaganda efforts, and the broader campaign information ecosystem. It will also consider how changes in platform policies affected the campaign and information environment, and whether lessons learned in the 2020 elections provide helpful evidence to direct future reforms.