The morning light was still soft over Phnom Penh when fifty young Cambodians began to gather for a workshop that would ask more of them than simply sitting through lectures. They were university students, recent graduates, and young professionals, and they had come with a sense of purpose that felt heavier than the usual networking event. These were people who had watched their parents struggle to tell real messages from fake ones. They had seen classmates share misinformation that spread fear through village chat groups. They had heard stories of neighbors losing money to callers whose voices sounded exactly like…

Michael Sanchez had a front-row seat to something he had never experienced before. From his desk in the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office, he watched as rumors of a rigged June primary exploded across the internet. It was early June, and the primary election had just concluded, but for Sanchez and his small team, the most intense phase of the work was just beginning. Posts from accounts with thousands of followers were questioning the integrity of the process. Some users cast doubt on the counting of mail ballots. Others pointed to alleged evidence of corruption at polling places. One…