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Instagram head says platform working to prevent interference in 2020 election

Instagram head on foreign interference
Instagram head says platform working to prevent 2020 election interference 01:49

In his first American TV interview, Instagram head Adam Mosseri told "CBS This Morning's" Gayle King the social media platform is working hard to prevent foreign interference in the upcoming presidential election. 

Mosseri took the helm at Instagram in October. He had been an executive at Facebook, which owns Instagram. One of the projects he worked on in 2016 was Facebook's News Feed, which dealt with the spread of misinformation

"The actions that we are working against... very sophisticated, very motivated, very quick to adapt their methodologies. When we close one loophole or one opportunity they often find another," Mosseri said.

He said they had been so focused on "connecting people" they didn't put enough focus on the risks. 

"We are trying to understand the details of the risks. Maybe the misinformation is coming from the government, not coming from the media in a certain country. Or maybe the one country is a specific target from a neighboring country because of a local dispute. We need to understand those nuances," Mosseri said.

He told King there are several areas for the company to focus on. 

"Identifying bad actors, getting rid of fake accounts, getting more effective at identifying misinformation to make sure it doesn't go viral, empowering readers with more information about what they read so that they can make more informed decisions about what to trust and what to share," Mosseri said.


Watch more of King's interview with Mosseri on Wednesday, June 26 on "CBS This Morning," 7 a.m. ET.

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