--- title: How Silicon Valley Is Shaping the 2016 Election description: Former Mitt Romney digital director Zac Moffatt talks about Silicon Valley bias and social media strategy following the meeting at Facebook canonical: https://time.com/4342222/silicon-valley-2016-election/ author: Kirsten Salyer article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-20T20:10:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:35.142Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How Silicon Valley Is Shaping the 2016 Election og:description: Former Mitt Romney digital director Zac Moffatt talks about bias and strategy og:url: https://time.com/4342222/silicon-valley-2016-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc5f4d9e46cc576/69888ee8196cf4e38103b293/mark-zuckerberg1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during the Facebook F8 Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Silicon Valley Is Shaping the 2016 Election twitter:description: Former Mitt Romney digital director Zac Moffatt talks about bias and strategy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc5f4d9e46cc576/69888ee8196cf4e38103b293/mark-zuckerberg1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Silicon Valley Is Shaping the 2016 Election > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=af6bffa8-cd1d-4117-b954-51bb06923ebb&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Zuckerberg Investigating Facebook Trending Topics Accusations [Watch (HLS stream): Zuckerberg Investigating Facebook Trending Topics Accusations](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9tVDHKPX.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2016-05-13. Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is investigating the accusations that it supresses conservative news in its Trending Topics section._  by [Kirsten Salyer](https://time.com/author/kirsten-salyer/)  ## Kirsten Salyer May 20, 2016 8:10 PM UTC  Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during the Facebook F8 Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during the Facebook F8 Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Kirsten Salyer](https://time.com/author/kirsten-salyer/)  ## Kirsten Salyer May 20, 2016 8:10 PM UTC Following Wednesday’s meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other conservative leaders, Zac Moffatt, the former digital director for Mitt Romney and co-founder of digital-strategy company Targeted Victory, spoke with TIME about his thoughts on the meeting and how Silicon Valley may affect the 2016 election. Moffatt said that he appreciated the chance to discuss both the specific allegations against Facebook and the broader issue of systemic bias at tech companies. “I do fundamentally believe that there is structural ideological bias that occurs at these companies, probably not consciously, but just in the type of staff that they hire and the physical location,” he said. And the issue goes beyond Facebook, Moffatt said. “This is a Silicon Valley issue—at a minimum,” he said. “That’s something we have to think about. Half the country thinks one way, and half the country thinks another. It’s one thing when you’re trying to sell more widgets, it’s another when you’re participating in democracy.” **Read more:** [Glenn Beck: Facebook Made Us Feel More Welcome Than the Republican Party Has](http://time.com/4342055/glenn-beck-facebook-conservatism/) We should encourage tech companies to be transparent about their policies and practices, Moffatt said. And acknowledge that the issue goes beyond partisan politics. “There’s a positive of Silicon Valley in that you have so many people who are talented and like-minded working together,” he said. “But group thought is a very dangerous thing. I’d argue that Hillary Clinton probably agree with this, too,” Moffatt said. “She’s probably upset that no Democrat likes her from Silicon Valley because they want to be with Bernie Sanders. It’s not entirely a Republican thing.“ And regardless of possible bias, in today’s digital age, campaigns can’t risk ignoring the opportunity to connect with voters on social media, Moffatt said. “I’m less worried about biases in a company than a campaign’s understanding and willingness to leverage those tools to be successful in 2016.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4342222/silicon-valley-2016-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4342222/silicon-valley-2016-election/"},"headline":"How Silicon Valley Is Shaping the 2016 Election","datePublished":"2016-05-20T20:10:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:35.142Z","description":"Former Mitt Romney digital director Zac Moffatt talks about bias and strategy","url":"https://time.com/4342222/silicon-valley-2016-election/","keywords":["politics","Social Media","Tech"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc5f4d9e46cc576/69888ee8196cf4e38103b293/mark-zuckerberg1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kirsten Salyer","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kirsten-salyer/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc5f4d9e46cc576/69888ee8196cf4e38103b293/mark-zuckerberg1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during the Facebook F8 Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 12, 2016.","caption":"Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during the Facebook F8 Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 12, 2016.","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4342222/silicon-valley-2016-election/","name":"How Silicon Valley Is Shaping the 2016 Election"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Zuckerberg Investigating Facebook Trending Topics Accusations","description":"Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is investigating the accusations that it supresses conservative news in its Trending Topics section.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/9tVDHKPX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-05-13T14:40:22.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9tVDHKPX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4342222/silicon-valley-2016-election/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4342222/silicon-valley-2016-election/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```