Understanding how disinformation online has endangered democracy and democratic norms is incredibly nuanced. When considering the dynamics at play, it is important to not conflate disinformation and the internet communication environment with existing issues it is entangled in (and at times, exploits), such as rising populism and polarization, said Stanford legal scholar and co-director of the Cyber Policy Center Nathaniel Persily in a 2019 report for the Kofi Annan Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age.