![]() ![]() The company also added an " election misinformation advisory" to its website to try to combat "false and malicious claims" from True the Vote. In an unusual move, a federal judge agreed to issue a temporary restraining order against True the Vote, which requires the group to turn over "all property and data obtained from Konnech's protected computers," and blocks True the Vote from "using, disclosing, or exploiting the property and data downloaded from Konnech's protected computers."Īdditionally, Goldberg, the company's spokesperson, told NPR that the company "has been and is working closely with law enforcement at multiple levels regarding True the Vote's claims." "I will state clearly and unequivocally: neither Eugene Yu nor Konnech are in any way associated with the Chinese Communist Party," said Goldberg. Konnech claims in its lawsuit that True the Vote and its leaders, Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, have falsely accused Konnech of orchestrating "a red Chinese communist op run against the United States" and improperly accessed Konnech's data. Konnech's lawsuit targets True the Vote, which has made a name for itself with dubious claims of widespread voter fraud, including the film "2,000 Mules," and has been increasingly linked to QAnon. Conspiracy theories about the 2020 election have continued to spread, but there's some indication that these lawsuits have pushed such claims farther from the mainstream of conservative media and toward the fringes, with some on the self-publishing digital newsletter platform Substack. Capitol, have also filed lawsuits alleging that they were defamed by election conspiracy theories and subjected to "vitriol, threats, and harassment." A Pennsylvania postal service employee also took legal action, and alleged that he was falsely accused of manipulating vote-by-mail ballots in the 2020 election. Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss, the latter of whom testified in front of the congressional committee investigating the Jan. Konnech, which makes scheduling software for poll workers, joined a growing number of election officials and companies that have used defamation law to try to fight back against election-related conspiracies.ĭominion Voting Systems, as well as another election technology company, Smartmatic, have filed multiple lawsuits against media outlets and prominent Trump-world figures that spread allegedly defamatory claims about them in the 2020 election. ![]() Konnech was "not going to take any chances and felt very strongly that it needed to act and act quickly," said Jon Goldberg, a company spokesperson. Just a few weeks after accusations against the company first surfaced, Konnech turned to the federal courts and filed a lawsuit. The experience of the election technology company Dominion Voting Systems, which became the target of widespread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, also underscored how wild claims could significantly damage a company's business. Capitol, and in the era of QAnon and Pizzagate - bizarre and baseless theories that have contributed to very real violence - that strategy may no longer be tenable. In the past, the executive of a relatively unknown company might have chosen to ignore such claims to try to deprive them of attention.īut in the wake of the conspiracy-fueled Jan. from China in the 1980s and became an American citizen in 1997. The company believes a driving force behind the threats is xenophobia Konnech's CEO immigrated to the U.S. Konnech, a small Michigan company that makes election logistics software, says a "smear campaign" whipped up by the controversial group True the Vote has led to death threats and forced the company's CEO to leave home in fear for his and his family's lives. A new lawsuit alleges that Engelbrecht and True the Vote defamed a small company that makes software for election workers. Catherine Engelbrecht, seen here in 2015, founded the controversial nonprofit True the Vote. ![]()
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