Most Americans will never actually meet the people they’re voting for. We just know them from the flood of media and campaign ads shoved in our faces. It’s like picking a life partner based on their profile picture and a catchy bio. This leaves a lot of space for sneaky third parties to mess with what we think we know about the candidates. And yes, there’s a villain in this story, rigging our elections. No, it’s not just TikTok. Spoiler alert: our own social media overlords are in on it too.

But first, let’s talk TikTok, the app that 170 million Americans (including our very own presidential candidates) can’t stop scrolling. There’s evidence that China is using TikTok to spread disinformation and anti-American propaganda. Need proof? Just look at how conveniently Osama bin Laden’s “letter to America” went viral on TikTok right after the October 7 Hamas attack and the day after President Biden had a chat with China’s President Xi. Coincidence? Highly unlikely.

TikTok is the biggest disinformation factory in the U.S., churning out radicalization at record speed. The same politicians who once wanted TikTok banned are now uploading content like they’re influencers chasing a midlife crisis. Let’s be real: banning TikTok would be “politically insane” for Democrats who need to woo the youth vote. But don’t think for a second that TikTok isn’t ready to repeat its 2020 election antics. Spreading disinformation to hundreds of thousands of voters? Yeah, that’s their specialty, and 2024 won’t be any different.

You’d think it’s obvious that a platform controlled by our global rival would be used against us. But wait, the American social media giants are just as bad—possibly worse.

Take Apple, for example. In the name of profit, they’ve allowed shady apps owned by Russia, China, and Iran to weasel their way onto your phone. Case in point: FaceApp, the app that ages you like you’ve been through four years of political discourse. Over 80 million Americans downloaded it, happily handing their images over to a Russian company with connections to Putin’s regime. Those terms and conditions you didn’t read? They say that the company can use your photos forever. So don’t be surprised if some Twitter bot comes for you during election season, using your face to spread even more disinformation.

And then there’s Grindr. Sold to a Chinese firm in 2018, this dating app knows its users’ locations and even their HIV status. But don’t worry; the U.S. is now forcing a sale back, realizing that having the Chinese Communist Party potential blackmail material over U.S. civilians and military leaders isn’t exactly a genius idea.

But it doesn’t stop there. Facebook, that bastion of “trust,” gave over 150 companies—including Microsoft and Netflix—access to user data without telling anyone. Russian search engine Yandex also had access to that info, meaning a treasure trove of American data went straight to Moscow. Oh, but don’t worry, Facebook swears there’s “no evidence of abuse.” Sure, Mark. And I’m the Queen of England.

Facebook insists it bans bad developers, but how would we even know? They’ve proven time and again they’re either too clueless or too greedy to care about misuse. Over 200 million Americans use Facebook, 100 million use Instagram, and 70 million use Twitter. Many of them may have been exposed to foreign propaganda.

Facebook also swore up and down that they don’t play favorites, but their track record of suspensions and deletions shows otherwise. Every study that claims Facebook is unbiased is based on incorrect data because, surprise, Facebook won’t release the real information on which posts reach the most people. How about some transparency?

Then there’s Google, the largest search engine in our country. Do they have a preference? Absolutely. For example, when users searched for a Trump rally, they were shown information about a Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta instead. There’s also the infamous case where Google was accused of censoring searches related to the assassination attempt on the former president.

So, will Russia, China, and Iran mess with the 2024 election? Of course. The real question is, will our government let them? They did in 2016 and 2020, so why would 2024 be any different?