Politics

‘Cabal’ Formed ‘Shadow Campaign’ To Fortify 2020 Election, Time Reports

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A “cabal of powerful people” worked to “fortify” the 2020 election through a “shadow campaign,” according to a Thursday Time Magazine report.

A co-ordinated alliance between activists and “powerful people” in many industries and across political lines sought to protect a free, fair and uncorrupted election, Time reported. The groups influenced states to “change voting systems and laws” and encouraged tech companies to take measures against disinformation.

The secret history of the shadow campaign that saved the 2020 electionhttps://t.co/xG3S60cP2L

— TIME (@TIME) February 5, 2021

Laura Quinn, the co-founder of a for-profit voter database company, developed a program designed to track disinformation and halt its spread, according to Time. In her conclusions, she found it necessary to pressure social media companies to vigorously police their platforms for disinformation and immediately remove accounts and posts involving false information.

Quinn’s research helped activists persuade social media leaders to take a firmer stance against disinformation, Time reported. In November 2019, Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg had dinner with nine civil rights activists which resulted in stricter guidelines and enforcement of rules.

“Was it enough? Probably not. Was it later than we wanted? Yes,” said Biden administration Associate Attorney General nominee, Vanita Gupta, Time reported.

“But it was really important, given the level of official disinformation, that they had those rules in place and were tagging things and taking them down.”