{"id":2240177,"date":"2024-05-08T14:22:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-confirms-its-restarting-online-censorship-efforts-ahead-of-2024-election\/"},"modified":"2024-05-08T14:26:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:26:01","slug":"fbi-confirms-its-restarting-online-censorship-efforts-ahead-of-2024-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-confirms-its-restarting-online-censorship-efforts-ahead-of-2024-election\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI to Resume Online Censorship Efforts Before 2024 Election"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffbi-confirms-its-restarting-online-censorship-efforts-ahead-of-2024-election%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2240177&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The FBI and \u200bCISA have restarted \u200dtalks with \u2064major tech platforms to combat disinformation \u200cbefore \u2064the 2024 election. This move follows \u200bongoing legal \u2063discussions\u200b regarding\u200d government-related \u2063censorship efforts. The coordination aims to enhance election \u2064security by addressing and\u200c removing false information on social \u200cmedia.\u200c Various agencies are actively\u2064 involved in this\u2064 initiative, with a focus on maintaining the integrity of online information.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>On Monday, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters that federal agencies such as the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) restarted discussions with Big Tech platforms. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextgov.com\/cybersecurity\/2024\/05\/cisa-fbi-resuming-talks-social-media-firms-over-disinformation-removal-senate-intel-chair-says\/396360\/?oref=ng-next-story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NextGov\/FCW<\/a>, this coordination will focus on \u201cremoving disinformation on their sites as the November presidential election nears.\u201d Warner claimed these talks resumed in March, around the same time oral arguments in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/murthy-v-missouri\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Murthy v. Missouri<\/a><\/em>  \u2014 which centers on the feds\u2019 censorship efforts \u2014 were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. <\/p>\n<p>When pressed on the validity of Warner\u2019s remarks, an FBI representative confirmed to The Federalist that the agency has resumed communications with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/deposition-reveals-fbi-plot-to-influence-the-2020-election\/\" title=\"Deposition Reveals FBI Plot to Influence the 2020 Election\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-Trump Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">social media companies<\/a> ahead<\/a> of the 2024 election.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1126399137\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0d5d68ec1295b42bf18371032b2c560f fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0d5d68ec1295b42bf18371032b2c560f\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe FBI remains committed to combatting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jan-6-committee-seeks-records-from-15-tech-platforms\/\" title=\"Jan. 6 Committee Seeks Records From 15 Tech Platforms\">foreign malign influence<\/a> operations, including in connection with our elections. That effort includes sharing specific foreign threat information with state and local election officials and private sector companies when appropriate and rigorously consistent with the law,\u201d the representative claimed. \u201cIn coordination with the Department of Justice, the FBI recently implemented procedures to facilitate sharing information about foreign malign influence with social media companies in a way that reinforces that private companies are free to decide on their own whether and how to take action on that information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CISA External Affairs Specialist Tess Hyre declined The Federalist\u2019s request for comment on whether the agency has resumed discussions with social media companies to combat what it claims to be \u201cdisinformation,\u201d but she said that CISA Director Jen Easterly will be participating in an \u201cElection Security\u201d hearing in \u201cthe coming weeks.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Neither the FBI nor CISA responded when pressed on when they restarted communications with social media companies on efforts to remove posts\u00a0containing so-called \u201cdisinformation\u201d from their platforms. The FBI and CISA did not identify the specific companies they\u2019re working with on such efforts. Neither agency provided an answer when questioned on how they determine what constitutes \u201cdisinformation\u201d or what other federal agencies they are collaborating with in these efforts to have \u201cdisinformation\u201d removed from social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p>The issue of government-compelled censorship is front and center in <em>Murthy v. Missouri<\/em>, a case before SCOTUS focused on allegations from Missouri and Louisiana that the federal government\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/07\/07\/12-times-the-biden-white-house-colluded-with-big-tech-to-throttle-free-speech-according-to-missouri-v-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressuring<\/a> of social media companies to censor free speech online constitutes a violation of the First Amendment. U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/07\/05\/judge-bars-biden-administration-from-colluding-with-big-tech-to-censor-free-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued<\/a> a preliminary injunction in July 2023 barring federal agencies from colluding with Big Tech to censor posts they don\u2019t like. In his ruling, Doughty wrote, \u201cIf the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reason-to-celebrate-on-july-4-judge-struck-blow-for-freedom-against-biden-admin-big-tech-censorship\/\" title=\"July 4: Judge Strikes Blow for Freedom Against Biden Admin, Big Tech Censorship\">present case arguably involves<\/a> the most massive attack against free speech in United States\u2019 history.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-11ecc57146b05fba9a888333ee22e686 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-11ecc57146b05fba9a888333ee22e686\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/07\/07\/12-times-the-biden-white-house-colluded-with-big-tech-to-throttle-free-speech-according-to-missouri-v-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">12 Times The Biden White House Colluded With Big Tech To Throttle Free Speech, According To <em>Missouri v. Biden<\/em><\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/courts-strike-blow-against-white-houses-social-media-censorship-opinion-1826831\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">upheld<\/a> Doughty\u2019s injunction in September. While the initial ruling did not pertain to CISA \u2014 often referred to by its critics as the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/09\/30\/these-house-republicans-voted-to-fund-cisas-criminal-censorship-and-election-interference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nerve center<\/a>\u201d of the federal government\u2019s censorship operations \u2014 the court later issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/10\/05\/fifth-circuit-corrects-critical-error-in-prior-ruling-to-shut-down-deep-state-censorship-tactic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">corrected ruling<\/a> to prevent CISA from colluding with Big Tech to squash free speech online. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govexec.com\/oversight\/2023\/10\/supreme-court-ends-restrictions-federal-agency-contacts-social-media-firms\/391434\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lifted<\/a> the Fifth Circuit\u2019s injunction in October, effectively allowing the federal government\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/10\/26\/5-examples-of-the-illegal-government-censorship-scotus-just-allowed-to-resume\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censorship operations<\/a> to resume while it considered the merits of the case. <\/p>\n<p>SCOTUS is expected to issue a final ruling on the merits of <em>Murthy v. Missouri<\/em> this summer. <\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/21\/8-big-takeaways-for-free-speech-in-landmark-murthy-v-missouri-censorship-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">8 Shocking Takeaways From Landmark <em>Murthy v. Missouri<\/em> Censorship Case<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a12bb8678710ec24457c176c4f34ea8d fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a12bb8678710ec24457c176c4f34ea8d\"><\/div>\n<p>Largely ignored by legacy media, the collusion between the federal government and Big Tech to silence online speech the feds do not approve of is extensive and unprecedented. For example, the Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/01\/bombshell-emails-show-the-biden-administration-colluded-with-big-tech-to-censor-covid-misinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressured<\/a> social media companies to censor Covid-related posts they deemed to be \u201cmisinformation\u201d shortly after coming into power, even if such posts contained information that is factually true. <\/p>\n<p>Emails unearthed in <em>Murthy v. Missouri<\/em> indicate health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held regular \u201cmisinfo\/debunking meeting[s]\u201d with Facebook to discuss the latter\u2019s censorship efforts. <\/p>\n<p>But these efforts are just one facet of the government\u2019s censorship operations. CISA regularly <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/09\/30\/these-house-republicans-voted-to-fund-cisas-criminal-censorship-and-election-interference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">facilitated<\/a> meetings \u201cbetween Big Tech companies, and national security and law enforcement agencies to address \u2018mis-, dis-, and mal-information\u2019 on social media platforms.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Leading up to the 2020 election, for instance, the agency upped its censorship efforts by flagging posts for Big Tech companies it claimed were worthy of being censored, some of which called into question the security of voting practices such as mass, unsupervised mail-in voting. This was done despite CISA <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/23\/docs-cisa-knew-risks-of-mail-in-voting-in-2020-but-got-posts-about-them-censored-anyway\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">privately acknowledging<\/a> the risks associated with such practices. <\/p>\n<p>Neither the FBI nor CISA responded to The Federalist\u2019s request for comment on whether <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-partners-with-dhs-cisa-censors-to-target-election-speech-it-deems-a-threat\/\" title=\"Pennsylvania collaborates with DHS, CISA to censor election speech it considers 'threatening\">social media posts highlighting<\/a> the risks of mail-in voting would be flagged as \u201cdisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/11\/07\/government-censorship-op-targeted-the-federalists-mollie-hemingway-sean-davis-during-2020-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interim report<\/a> released by House Republicans in November revealed that CISA\u2019s censorship enterprise was more extensive than previously known. According to that analysis, CISA \u2014 along with the State Department\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/04\/19\/meet-the-shadowy-group-that-ran-the-federal-governments-censorship-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Global Engagement Center (GEC)<\/a> \u2014 colluded with Stanford University to pressure Big Tech companies into censoring what they claimed to be \u201cdisinformation\u201d during the 2020 election. <\/p>\n<p>At the heart of this operation was the <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/EIP_Jira_Ticket_Staff_Report_11-6-23_Clean.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Election Integrity Partnership (EIP)<\/a>, \u201ca consortium of \u2018disinformation\u2019 academics\u201d spearheaded by the Stanford Internet Observatory that coordinated with DHS and GEC \u201cto monitor and censor Americans\u2019 online speech\u201d ahead of the 2020 contest.<\/p>\n<p>Created \u201cat the request\u201d of CISA, EIP allowed federal officials to \u201claunder [their] censorship activities in hopes of bypassing both the First Amendment and public scrutiny.\u201d As documented in the interim report, this operation <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/11\/07\/government-censorship-op-targeted-the-federalists-mollie-hemingway-sean-davis-during-2020-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attempted<\/a> to censor \u201ctrue information, jokes and satire, and political opinions\u201d and submitted flagged posts from prominent conservative figures to Big Tech companies for censorship. Among those targeted were The Federalist\u2019s Mollie Hemingway and Sean Davis.<\/p>\n<p>The feds also played a significant role in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/22\/fbi-knew-hunter-bidens-laptop-was-authentic-a-year-before-pressuring-big-tech-to-censor-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressuring<\/a> social media companies to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/26\/confirmed-fbi-colluded-with-big-tech-to-prevent-voters-from-learning-about-hunter-bidens-laptop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censor<\/a> the New York Post\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/10\/14\/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bombshell report<\/a> on the Biden family business dealings ahead of the 2020 election. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-91dad71aae35ced109afbc1a30498f8b fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-91dad71aae35ced109afbc1a30498f8b\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senator Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, revealed that the FBI and CISA have resumed talks with major tech platforms to address disinformation ahead of the upcoming presidential election. This collaborative effort aims to counter misinformation as the election approaches, as reported by NextGov\/FCW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2240178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/big-tech-companies.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2240177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/big-tech-companies.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2240177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2240178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2240177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2240177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2240177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}