Election security

Tech giants met with US intelligence officials over midterm elections

Some of the tech industry's most influential companies are apparently mobilizing in an effort to avoid a repeat of the Russian meddling that occurred during the 2016 US election.

Representatives from Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Oath, Snap and Twitter, met last month with representatives of the US intelligence community to discuss preparations for the midterm elections, The New York Times reported Monday. The meeting, which Facebook confirmed it hosted, was the first discussion between tech companies and intelligence officials on the topic since Russian operatives used social media to sow seeds of discord among Americans during the 2016 election.

But the meeting's atmosphere was described as tense and sharing of information was one-sided, three unidentified sources told the newspaper. While tech companies presented details about disinformation campaigns they saw waged on their platforms, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security were reportedly unable or unwilling to share information about the threats tech companies could anticipate in the upcoming elections.