Writing in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Herbert Lin describes cyber enabled disinformation warfare as an existential threat to civilization, one which operates to increase the other two such threats; nuclear war and climate change.

     As it seems evident, the survival of the human species and life on earth hinge on democracy and our open sharing of information and testing of claims to discover the truth. In this regard the values of the Enlightenment are built on scientific rationalism; empirical proof and Aristotelian reason, along with our rights of speech and freedom of information, are our best defense against tyranny.

     That the intent of cyber warfare such as enabled the Stolen Election of 2016 is to destroy the idea of objective truth, impartial justice, the equality of persons and the autonomy of free individuals, is by now nothing new to most of us. That democracy and a free society of equals is the test by which humanity survives or faces extinction from our own greed and violence is a terrifying new insight, but one which also offers hope; for Herbert Lin has named our destroyer, and we now know what principle must be defended at all cost.  https://fsi-live.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/lin_ceiw_as_existential_threat-final_bas.pdf?utm_source=Fareed%27s+Global+Briefing&utm_campaign=3a39e6154a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_07_09_09_36&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6f2e93382a-3a39e6154a-99998813