# The VOICE Act of 2024: Protecting Veterans from Online Scams and Foreign Manipulation

Veterans are being targeted online at alarming rates—by scammers trying to steal their money and by foreign governments trying to manipulate them politically. The VOICE Act (Veterans Online Information and Cybersecurity Empowerment Act) is designed to fight back by teaching veterans how to protect themselves online.

The bill creates a grant program that gives money to organizations working with veterans so they can teach cybersecurity and media literacy skills. Think of it as funding digital self-defense classes. These organizations—which include nonprofits, veterans groups, and community organizations—can use the grants to teach veterans practical things like how to spot fake emails, recognize scams, understand how social media algorithms work, and identify when they're being targeted by disinformation campaigns. The bill specifically mentions teaching veterans to recognize influence campaigns from countries like Russia, China, and Iran, which have a documented history of targeting military communities with divisive propaganda on social media.

The problem this addresses is real and serious. According to the bill, veterans lost $267 million to fraud in 2021 alone, and they're twice as likely as the general public to fall for scams. Meanwhile, foreign intelligence agencies have specifically targeted veterans on social media—for example, a Russian troll farm created a fake veterans account that attracted over 215,000 followers and generated millions of engagements. The bill would authorize $20 million per year for fiscal years 2025 and 2027 to fund these educational programs, and organizations receiving grants would have to report back on how effective their training was.