WASHINGTON, D.C. - An interim staff report was released on June 26, 2023, by the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The report details how the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), allegedly expanded its original mission of protecting critical infrastructure from cyberattacks to include monitoring and regulating social media content.
The report titled "The Weaponization of CISA: How a 'Cybersecurity' Agency Colluded with Big Tech and 'Disinformation' Partners to Censor Americans" discusses alleged collusion between CISA, Big Tech, and government-funded third parties to conduct censorship and cover up CISA's activities that may be unconstitutional.
The two committees are currently investigating allegations of government involvement in the censorship of speech. As part of this investigation, they previously requested documents and communications from CISA through a subpoena on April 28, 2023. Public reporting, including The Twitter Files, has revealed that the federal government has worked with Big Tech and other intermediaries to censor certain viewpoints, which they argue goes against First Amendment rights.
As stated on page 7 of the report, CISA initiated and financially supports the Center for Internet Security (CIS). This enabled CISA to relay information to social media platforms during the 2020 election regarding election officials that they deemed to be false and misleading, resulting in its removal.
Click here for the latest news updates and to join the conversation.CISA also allegedly implemented the "Countering Foreign Influence Task Force" (CFITF) and censored social media posts that they considered "misinformation." According to the report, the stated goal of CFITF was to concentrate on disinformation related to election infrastructure.
According to page 10 of the report, it is alleged that CFITF would censor both domestic and foreign sources that were deemed to be against "national cohesion." CISA would allegedly use sources that are considered "inherently political" to counter disinformation and misinformation.
CISA also allegedly determined what content to censor through a department known as the MDM Team, which is responsible for analyzing malinformation, disinformation, and misinformation. Page 11 of the report states that the MDM team consisted of 15 staff members who were responsible for monitoring information related to the 2020 election.
The report alleges the National Association of Secretaries of State cautioned CISA to adhere to the limits of cybersecurity misinformation and disinformation. According to the report, despite the warning, CISA reportedly offered their services to manage election information.
The House Judiciary Committee says the investigation is currently ongoing, but they claim the information gathered so far suggests that CISA may have played a role in censoring Americans, both directly and through third-party intermediaries.
0 Comments