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. The company believes a driving force behind the threats is xenophobia; Konnech’s CEO immigrated to the U.S. from China in the 1980s and became an American citizen in 1997.
In the past, the executive of a relatively unknown company might have chosen to ignore such claims to try to deprive them of attention.
But in the wake of the conspiracy-fueled Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. 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. 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.
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.”
How the threat of legal action affected “2,000 Mules”
Engelbrecht and Phillips previously executive produced and provided the research for the widely debunked election conspiracy theory film, “2,000 Mules.” And there’s some indication that the threat of defamation lawsuits may have slowed the spread of claims from the film.
Last month, the publisher of an upcoming book version of “2,000 Mules” also abruptly recalled copies from bookstores. NPR obtained the recalled version of the book, which, unlike the film, makes allegations against specific nonprofit groups, and accuses them of “organized crime.”
https://www.ideastream.org/news/prominent-election-deniers-are-facing-growing-legal-trouble