The Stanford Internet Observatory, the co-leader in a Department of Homeland Security-conceived private consortium to flag and mass-report alleged misinformation for removal in the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, will reportedly not “conduct research into the 2024 election or other elections in the future” as its controversial federally tinged work became embroiled in lawsuits and congressional subpoenas.
“Silicon Valley and democracy” newsletter Platformer reports the group is “winding down,” crediting unnamed sources: founding director Alex Stamos left in November, research director Renee DiResta, whom Stamos said has “worked for the CIA,” left last week “after her contract was not renewed,” another staffer’s contract expired and others were told “look for jobs elsewhere.”
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., put renewed and likely unwanted attention on the feds’ relationship with the Election Integrity Partnership last month by claiming the public and private sectors were communicating again about removing purported election misinformation, even as the Supreme Court decides whether the federal role in private censorship is constitutional.
