Nonprofits like the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) are still finding ways to influence electoral processes despite a half-dozen states moving to ban their involvement. CTCL and other organizations received substantial private funding during the 2020 elections from tech moguls such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Through a series of publicly available webinars, CTCL provides training on topics like working with leftist fact-checkers, lobbying elected officials, and building relationships with selected journalists.
Despite promoting a ‘non-partisan’ public image, CTCL’s founders and some of its board members trace back to Democratic political operations. The organization itself has received millions in funding from left-leaning sources. In response to the laws prohibiting private election funding, CTCL launched the Election Infrastructure Initiative, which aims to pool together election officials, nonprofits, counties, and cities to advocate for $20 billion in federal funding for election processes over the next decade.
Notwithstanding the controversy surrounding its political affiliations and disputed involvement in the 2020 elections, CTCL also continues to train election administrators. Training topics include navigating electoral procedures, lobbying officials, and targeting disfavored speech about elections.
Zuckerberg has announced his intention to use Facebook and Instagram tools to limit the political content users will see ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Instagram publicly stated: “[W]e won’t proactively recommend content about politics on recommendation surfaces across Instagram and Threads.”
The National Pulse has provided extensive coverage of Zuckerberg and CTCL’s activities. In 2022, The Pulse reported that CTCL launched an $80 million effort to hijack local elections — ostensibly tilting the races in favor of Democrats. In August of the same year, Zuckerberg himself admitted to interfering in the 2020 presidential election — acknowledging that he and his company, Facebook, censored media coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop on behalf of the FBI.