The chairman of Arizona’s Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is calling on Big Tech companies to crack down on so-called “misinformation” ahead of the 2024 elections.
Maricopa County’s Chairman of the Board Bill Gates wants to see questions about election integrity shut down before the next cycle.
Gates has a vested interest in suppressing “misinformation” about elections.
During the 2022 elections, Gates was accused of election interference.
In Arizona’s most populous county, Gates infamously oversaw the state’s contested 2022 gubernatorial election between Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Hobbs narrowly defeated Lake in the race, according to the official tally.
While Lake has been pursuing election fraud cases, the courts have been against her.
However, with Democrat Hobbs now in the governor’s mansion, Gates’s position remains safe.
Instead of reexamining the role of such controversial officials, the state sticks to keeping them in these critical roles.
Gates is now looking into the “ether” for possible things to blame and appears to be planning for allegations to emerge in the next elections.
His target is now alleged “misinformation” about election results, according to local reports.
Essentially, “misinformation” roughly translates to any questions about election integrity when a Democrat wins.
“It’s not accidental,” Gates claims when explaining how “misinformation” starts.
“There is some intent in spreading this misinformation.
“That’s sort of what makes it misinformation.”
According to Gates, it isn’t just President Donald Trump who is to blame for “misinformation” in Arizona elections, but other Republicans as well.
It’s good to remember that save for 1996 (Clinton) and, controversially, 2020 (Biden) – Arizona, and Maricopa County in particular, were considered Republican strongholds.
So no wonder that the “fine-grained” fight for each constituency begins now, and at the local media level, where there are calls to control online “misinformation.”
“The Gates of Maricopa” seems to be telling one side all they need to hear now.
“(…) dealing with misinformation is now a way of life in Maricopa County and beyond,” local news outlets say.
“He adds that the Board of Supervisors aims to make next year’s election even more transparent than before as they expect fake news to be a factor in races.”
