Big Tech is holding dry runs to game out Election Day chaos scenarios, key participants tell Axios.
Axios has learned that Facebook, Google, Twitter and Reddit are holding regular meetings with one another, with federal law enforcement — and with intelligence agencies — to discuss potential threats to election integrity.
Between March 1 and Aug. 1, Twitter practiced its response to scenarios including foreign interference, leaks of hacked materials and uncertainty following Election Day.
Why it matters: The unprecedented 2020 war games show how the Bay Area tech giants are worried that the government doesn’t have the COVID election under control, and are trying to protect their platforms against sinister efforts to game the outcome.
Digital platforms and state and local elections agencies are two of the most important categories of gatekeepers protecting public confidence in the integrity of the Nov. 3 election. With two months to go, they’re stepping up their battle plans.
Americans are expected to vote by mail in record numbers this year, meaning it may be days or weeks before it’s clear who won the presidency and down-ballot races.
Faith in democracy will be at stake in that crucial post-Election Day period.