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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Is a Facebook election-security executive a former Biden advisor?

Saturday, October 31, 2020

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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YES

Anna Makanju, who "leads efforts to ensure election integrity" at Facebook, served during the Obama administration in various roles, including a stint as advisor to Vice President Joe Biden.

In a recent Senate hearing, Senator John Thune asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about a lack of ideological diversity among Facebook staff, mentioning that "the person that's in charge of election integrity and security at Facebook is a former Joe Biden staffer." Zuckerberg responded he was "not aware" of this affiliation.

Thune was apparently referring to Makanju, though it's unclear if she is "in charge" of election integrity. Other Facebook managers have similar policy roles. Katie Harbath, who as public policy director is "managing the global elections strategy across the company," previously worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Atlantic Council: Anna Makanju

C-SPAN: Sen. Thune and Facebook CEO in hearing (Oct. 28, 2020)

LinkedIn: Katie Harbath

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.