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Leaked Documents Show Facebook and Twitter Working Closely With DHS, FBI to Police Disinformation: Report – Featured Bitcoin News

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2 years ago

November 1, 2022

Leaked Documents Show Facebook and Twitter Working Closely With DHS, FBI to Police Disinformation: Report – Featured Bitcoin News

The U.S. Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are reportedly working intently with main social media platforms, like Fb and Twitter, to police “disinformation.” Leaked paperwork additional present their plans to develop censorship.

Leaked Paperwork Reveal How Division of Homeland Safety Plans to Police Disinformation

Leaked paperwork and court docket data have revealed the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS)’s plans “to police disinformation,” in response to an article printed Monday by The Intercept. The DHS “is getting concerned in social media content material moderation in a giant method,” tweeted Ken Klippenstein, one of many two authors. The opposite creator, Lee Fang, detailed:

Docs present Fb and Twitter intently collaborating w/ Dept of Homeland Safety, FBI to police ‘disinfo.’ Plans to develop censorship on subjects like withdrawal from Afghanistan, origins of Covid, data that undermines belief in monetary establishments.

Whereas disinformation normally refers to false data unfold deliberately, the authors famous that how the time period is outlined by the federal government has not been clearly articulated.

Referencing the “Disinformation Governance Board,” which was shut down a couple of months after it was established by the DHS earlier this yr, the authors emphasised that different comparable initiatives nonetheless stay because the DHS “pivots to monitoring social media.” The article reveals: “Behind closed doorways, and thru strain on non-public platforms, the U.S. authorities has used its energy to attempt to form on-line discourse.”

In a March assembly attended by senior executives from Twitter and JPMorgan Chase, an FBI official burdened that “we want a media infrastructure that’s held accountable,” the authors famous, including:

There’s additionally a formalized course of for presidency officers to straight flag content material on Fb or Instagram and request that it’s throttled or suppressed by means of a particular Fb portal that requires a authorities or regulation enforcement e mail to make use of.

“Previous to the 2020 election, tech firms, together with Twitter, Fb, Reddit, Discord, Wikipedia, Microsoft, Linkedin, and Verizon Media met on a month-to-month foundation with the FBI, CISA, and different authorities representatives,” they additional shared, noting that the conferences are a part of an initiative that’s nonetheless ongoing.

The article additionally mentions Twitter’s head of authorized coverage, belief, and security, Vijaya Gadde, who was a part of the DHS advisory committee of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company (CISA) that drafted a report calling for an expansive function for the company in shaping the “data ecosystem” and halting the “unfold of false and deceptive data.”

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk took over Twitter final week, he instantly fired Gadde together with the then-CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal. Gadde’s involvement in serving to the federal government with censorship led some to imagine that the Biden administration would topic Musk’s Twitter acquisition deal to nationwide safety evaluations. Nonetheless, the White Home clarified final week that there was no such assessment.

The findings by Klippenstein and Fang outraged many individuals who took to Twitter to voice their opinions. One Twitter person wrote: “This can be the largest story of our lives and maybe one of the crucial stunning revelations in U.S. Historical past.” One other burdened: “This can be a large story and must be talked about. Our rights are on the road if there is no such thing as a accountability. We cannot let this stand.” A 3rd person wrote: “That is doubtless an enormous First Modification violation.”

A number of lawmakers additionally commented on the Division of Homeland Safety’s plan to police disinformation. U.S. Congressman Dan Bishop (R-NC) tweeted:

Biden’s DHS and Huge Tech working hand-in-hand to close down dissenting political speech. The general public ‘Disinformation Board’ was simply the tip of the iceberg. This warrants a full-scale congressional investigation.

The professional-crypto congressman Warren Davidson tweeted: “Seems the top of the ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ was disinformation…” One other lawmaker, U.S. Consultant Ronny Jackson (R-TX), opined: “Biden’s ‘disinformation board’ was set as much as silence conservatives. In the event you disagree with the regime’s narrative, then you definately’re a risk within the eyes of Biden. This White Home won’t ever shut us up.”

Tags on this story

Biden Administration, Censorship, Division of Homeland Safety, DHS, disinformation, Elon Musk, elon musk twitter, Fb, FBI, Instagram, LinkedIn, misinformation, police disinformation, Reddit, tech platforms, Twitter

What do you consider the U.S. authorities’s try to police disinformation? Tell us within the feedback part beneath.

Kevin Helms

A pupil of Austrian Economics, Kevin discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His pursuits lie in Bitcoin safety, open-source techniques, community results and the intersection between economics and cryptography.