Let me count the ways:

1. Widing partisan divides are crippling Congress from passing any legislation.

2. Public trust in government is at an all-time high.

3. It's getting harder for average citizens to find neutral news sources.

4. Risks to national security, safety and voting rights have increased under the MAGA movement that relies on lies and partisan propaganda.

5. Watchers are challenged by the lack of transparency from Social Media companies.

6. So-called black boxes surround the algorithms that serve up content, and the inability to see what is happening on the platforms in real time has only gotten worse.

7. MAGA politicians and activists target researchers, universities, tech companies and journalists who point out their lies.

8. Social media space has become fragmented with the ascendancy of alternatives including Substack, Telegram, Threads, and Rumble as viable spaces for far-right political actors and extreme content.

9. A potential threat lies in AI tools' ability to personalize misinformation, making it harder for social media to platforms to moderate because it appears authentic.

10. Election deniers have infected Congress and are running interference for former president Trump's current re-election efforts.

I could go on, but the above pretty much captures the highlights why disinformation is such a threat to this nation.

As it stands, we must be prepared for the most contentious presidential election in history by being aware of the challenges I've mentioned above. And for an election even worse than the 2020 attempts to overthrow the government.