On Thursday, April 21, the Stanford Cyber Policy Center and the Obama Foundation co-hosted a symposium, “Challenges to Democracy in the Digital Information Realm” on the Stanford campus. The event featured panel discussions from leaders in academia, technology, and policy on ways to defend democracy amid disinformation in a digitized world.

CTCL executive director Tiana Epps-Johnson, who is a Stanford alum and Obama Foundation fellow, had the honor of introducing the keynote speaker, former President Barack Obama. More than 600 audience members listened to the address at Stanford’s CEMEX auditorium, while over 250,000 viewers tuned in online.

In her remarks, she reflected on one of the most important lessons that has stuck with her throughout more than a decade of supporting election officials: “The overall health of our democracy, whether we have a voting process that is fair and trustworthy, is more important than any one election outcome,” she said.

Epps-Johnson stated that disinformation has changed election officials’ work in immeasurable ways, especially in the aftermath of the 2020 election. “Every single day, election officials of all political stripes are continuing to do the work that makes democracy happen. They’re lifting their voice to tell the truth, and they’re doing that even in the face of personal harm,” Epps-Johnson said. “It’s the job of the rest of us to stand with them, and to have their backs, and to find ways to build trust in the people and the institutions that hold our communities together.”

In his keynote address, Obama spoke about the threat that disinformation poses to democracy, and potential solutions to combat it. “Solving the disinformation problem won’t cure all that ails our democracies or tears at the fabric of our world, but it can help tamp down divisions and let us rebuild the trust and solidarity needed to make our democracy stronger,” Obama said.

Video recordings of the keynote address and panel discussions can be found at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center’s website.