New emails show officials at the Department of Homeland Security created a Stanford University “disinformation” group that censored the speech of Americans ahead of the 2020 election, according to a House Judiciary Committee report obtained exclusively by The Post.
The panel’s 103-page interim staff report said never-before-seen emails and internal communications were obtained from the group, known as the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), and showed how it worked with the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Agency (CISA ) DHS. ) to flag, block and remove online speech in coordination with large technology companies.
One of the founding partners of EIP — the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab — described CISA’s central role in the alleged censorship effort in a July 31, 2020 email.
“I know the Council has some efforts on broad policy around elections, but we only established an election integrity partnership at the request of DHS/CISA and are in weekly communications to brief on disinfo,” the lab’s senior director Graham Brookie wrote.
The staff report said, “[T]The federal government and universities are pressuring social media companies to censor truthful information, jokes and political opinions.
A report from the House Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), says new emails show officials at the Department of Homeland Security created a Stanford University “disinformation” group that censored the speech of Americans ahead of the 2020 election. Getty Images Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, described the central role of federal agencies in the alleged censorship efforts in a July 31, 2020 email. Atlantic Council The following is a related email from Atlantic Council DFR Lab Senior Director Graham Brookie. NY Post Online posts labeled “misinformation” made by public officials such as former President Donald Trump.Getty Images
“This pressure is largely directed in a way that benefits one side of the political aisle: true information posted by Republicans and conservatives is labeled ‘misinformation’ while false information posted by Democrats and liberals goes largely unreported and untouched by censors.”
Posts of “misinformation” were made by public officials such as former President Donald Trump, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), media outlets such as Newsmax and The Babylon Bee and many conservative commentators.
The Judiciary report also found that even under the jurisdiction of CISA’s Foreign Influence Task Force, the main focus of the feds’ efforts is to “censor Americans who engage in core political speech ahead of the 2020 election.”
DHS acknowledged that it could not “publicly endorse” a centralized portal for flagging information in a May 2020 email released in a staff report, which paved the way for Stanford’s EIP to take on the effort in July of that year.
The task force used a tactic known as “switchboarding” to refer to takedown requests from state and local officials to Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, which CISA-CFITF Director Brian Scully confirmed in testimony in the bomb case Missouri v. Biden.
Brian Scully, a figure in the controversy, testified in the Missouri v. bomb case. Biden. New Civil Liberties Alliance / Youtube Emails in a temporary staff report show Scully told members of the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office that she had flagged a parody account to Twitter.NY Post
Emails in the interim staff report show Scully told members of the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office that she had flagged the parody account to Twitter and advised Facebook to take down posts about the election it deemed misinformation.
The exchange indicated that CISA recognized it was on shaky legal grounds by participating in the effort and chose to add a disclaimer at the bottom of many emails that its requests were “voluntary” and that the agency “does not have or seek the ability to remove information provided. on social media platforms.”
However, the email also included the line that “information may also be shared with law enforcement or intelligence agencies,” implying those agencies could take action if the post is not removed.
Former CISA Director Chris Krebs, who was fired by Trump after the 2020 election, testified to the subcommittee that the “switchboard” was done before his agency was even created.
The exchange indicated that the group recognized it was on shaky legal ground by participating in the effort and chose to add a disclaimer at the bottom of many emails that its request was “voluntary.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified in a House Judiciary Committee hearing in July that the agency no longer participates in the practice.
The Judiciary staff report also revealed that Stanford students worked on both CISA and EIP simultaneously.
“Not only were a number of university students involved with the EIP, at least four students were employed by CISA during the EIP operation, using their government email accounts to communicate with CISA officials and other ‘external stakeholders’ involved with the EIP. EIP,” he said.
Former CISA Director Chris Krebs, who was fired by Trump after the 2020 election, testified to the subcommittee.Jim LoScalzo / Greg Nash / Pool via CNP / SplashNews.com
In a statement provided to The Post on Monday, CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales said the agency “does not and has never censored speech or facilitated censorship.
“Every day, the men and women of CISA carry out the agency’s mission to reduce risks to US critical infrastructure in a way that protects the freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties and privacy of the American people,” Wales said.
“In response to concerns from election officials of all parties about foreign influence operations and disinformation that may impact the security of the election infrastructure, CISA mitigates the risk of disinformation by sharing information on election literacy and election security with the public and with strengthen the trusted voice. election officials across the country.”
The “disinfo” organization was led by Stanford University’s Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) and was founded with the help of other academics who communicated directly with Homeland Security officials and members of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), the report said.
The SIO is envisioned as a “one-stop shop for local election officials, DHS, and voter protection organizations” to coordinate with social media platforms in censorship efforts, according to its director Alex Stamos, who previously served as chief security officer at Facebook.
In June, Stamos testified to a House subcommittee that CISA’s coordination with the FBI was seen as a threat.
Alex Stamos, who previously served as Facebook’s chief security officer, said the idea was to create a “one-stop shop for local election officials, DHS and voter protection organizations” to coordinate with the social media platform on censorship efforts.REUTERS
“[D]dealing with law enforcement agencies that have coercive powers is just a risky thing to do if you’re part of some big organization and some other organization — there might be some investigation involving organizations that you don’t know about,” he said.
“I think all executives of all public companies understand that there are many parts of the government that can punish you for activities you see fit.”
Stamos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump established CISA in 2018 to improve federal cybersecurity programs and protect government software from hackers.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
