The Intercept has published a big exposé on a Department of Homeland Security agenda to implement mass censorship in America because it is allegedly afraid that information will cause terrorism.
The article is based on leaks as well as court documents.
Great work by @lhfang to expose crucial evidence on the most-overlooked point about Big Tech censorship:
This censorship is not done at the sole or even primary initiative of Big Tech. It is so often done in conjunction with the US Govt and US Security State, which demands it: https://t.co/X9fyihl04a
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 31, 2022
Docs show Facebook and Twitter closely collaborating w/ Dept of Homeland Security, FBI to police “disinfo.” Plans to expand censorship on topics like withdrawal from Afghanistan, origins of COVID, info that undermines trust in financial institutions. https://t.co/Zb3zmI1dQF
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) October 31, 2022
Earlier this year, DHS launched a widely panned "Disinfo Governance Board" which it later shuttered following criticism. But the same agenda lives on w/ DHS sub-agency "CISA" which argues disinfo is a threat to American "critical infrastructure" #dhsleaks https://t.co/OPl6m5GVGX
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) October 31, 2022
How does DHS justify its evolving mission from countering foreign terror groups to policing domestic "disinfo" on social media? Leaked planning docs show the agency argues false information is a source of radicalization & violence.
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) October 31, 2022
It is quite something. They are claiming, outright, that basically every new item is subjected to control by the security state. The article cites a draft copy of DHS’s “Quadrennial Homeland Security Review,” which claims that every new story, including “the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, racial justice, U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the nature of U.S. support to Ukraine” needs to be regulated by the government.
Dept of Homeland Security plans to "hire and train skilled specialists to better understand how threat actors use online platforms to introduce and spread toxic narratives," per DHS quadrennial review leaked to me.
Full story: https://t.co/snX2h8f49o #DHSLeaks pic.twitter.com/E5UPCGzE5v
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) October 31, 2022
You may recall that last year, the government attempted to implement a “disinformation board” to control the media. The group was to be led by Nina Jankowicz, and the plan was cancelled in large part because this woman was so ridiculous. There were all these videos of her singing songs.
This is the new Biden administration head of Ministry of Truth, Nina Jankowicz. She is in charge of what’s truth and fiction in America. Every time you think the Biden administration can’t get more ridiculous, they do: pic.twitter.com/SKCaLafDzv
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 29, 2022
It should have been obvious to everyone that after the government had announced that they were going to be regulating information that they would not simply back out of that. If it gets to the point where the government is openly announcing a new department to do censorship, that is something that they’ve already thought through.
Prior to the 2020 election, the FBI and other government agencies met with tech companies including Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord, Wikipedia, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Verizon Media in order to discuss with them how to fight “election disinformation,” which is a euphemism for ensuring that Democrats win elections.
Right now, the DHS agenda involves demanding that tech companies silence information that the government disagrees with. The Biden Administration has previously admitted to flagging information on Facebook that they do not want people to see.
Facebook actually created a special department for officials from DHS to contact them about information they wanted removed from the public domain. This allows the government to target individuals they want censored.
This is all completely illegal, and it is known to be illegal. It proves, beyond any doubt, that the claim by the media that “Facebook and Twitter are private companies and can censor anyone they want” was a total scam. These are not private companies and they never had a right to take away people’s Constitutional rights. But that pedantic argument was always a ruse, because they were always doing totally illegal forms of censorship behind the scenes. Now that they have normalized censorship, they can come out and tell you that they are doing it in a blatantly illegal way. There is nothing you can do about it, because we live in a democracy, meaning you have no capacity to petition grievances.
This is the problem that Elon Musk is apparently now running into after having purchased Twitter: they have built this entire apparatus of information control, and they are not going to allow the electric car goofball to come in and overthrow their censorship regime. They can function on all of these technicalities, talking about “private company” and so on, but when it comes down to it, they will make happen what they want to have happen by any means necessary.
Ultimately, the takeaway should be a glimmer of hope in the fact that these people believe that this censorship is necessary. Apparently, it is the view of the government that if people had free access to information that things would change. That is a hopeful message. We often feel totally hopeless, as if nothing could ever change and all we can really do is pray for society to collapse, but if these government people believe that they can only win if they are able to control everything we are allowed to think, then that means there is some possibility for change to happen.
I have been very negative towards Elon Musk since his takeover of Twitter, given that there is no indication thus far that he is actually going to follow through with any of his promises to the people as regards freedom of speech. That said, however, I do continue to hope for the best, because all indications are that allowing for freedom of speech on the internet would completely change the world. Elon Musk could be the hero that makes this change happen, if he figures out a way to stand up against these people.