This is something that we have dealt with in a very high-profile way with other organizations that are in the disinformation space. Disinformation is a word I tend not to like, because I think people have different opinions of what is and isn't disinformation that are polarizing.
We have called out in very high-profile cases the affiliations between “disinformation” groups and people who have revolutionary and anti-government ideologies. On the front page of the L.A. Times, we have been on the record speaking about that problem.
My sense is that there is a challenge you have with private groups, but oftentimes those groups will lose credibility. What happens is, when you do play into an ideological game, people can tell that. You'll know that's true because you'll have one side of the party pick their disinformation expert, and you'll have the other side of the party pick their disinformation expert. Now you have competing experts who are saying, “You're the disinformation agent”, or, “No, you're the disinformation agent”. Again, this is part of the signal that we need to be promoting.
We just got a $4-million grant at Rutgers University to create a civic infrastructure to promote positive messages about civility online with these tools.