This year, don’t allow Big Tech to influence elections once more.

Americans will be voting in less than six months.

It’s crucial for states to guarantee the integrity of their democratic processes, especially after the controversies of the past presidential elections.

Several states have introduced reforms to enhance the integrity of their elections, as detailed in the Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard.

In addition to vulnerabilities in election integrity, there is also the risk of censorship and manipulation of political information by major tech platforms.

This not only poses a threat to free speech but is considered election interference at its worst.

Large tech companies use various methods to manipulate public opinion and influence election results.

Reactive methods involve stifling voices that do not align with progressive values, such as the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story by Facebook and Twitter before the 2020 election.

Google also uses secret blacklists to suppress certain websites, while Facebook employs a covert whitelist called “XCheck” for high-profile users.

Proactive methods include personalizing search results and feeds, as revealed in a Google leak from 2018, and targeting users with specific content to push a particular political agenda.

These manipulations reinforce political bias and can significantly impact user attitudes and voting behavior.

Such practices likely violate election laws at both federal and state levels.

Congress and states should investigate these practices, demand transparency, and enforce regulations to ensure fair elections.

Legislation is needed to establish robust transparency standards in content moderation and algorithms and to prohibit manipulative practices by tech companies.

It is imperative that measures are taken to safeguard elections from Big Tech’s interference as we approach a critical election period.

Government of the people, by the people, and for the people is at risk from political manipulation by Silicon Valley.

Congress and states must act to protect our democracy from the influence of Big Tech.

Hans von Spakovsky is a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Daniel Chorane is a senior research associate at its Tech Policy Center.