{"id":2250188,"date":"2024-05-22T09:57:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T13:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-is-indianas-secretary-of-state-partnering-with-nerve-center-of-federal-censorship\/"},"modified":"2024-05-22T10:03:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T14:03:16","slug":"why-is-indianas-secretary-of-state-partnering-with-nerve-center-of-federal-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-is-indianas-secretary-of-state-partnering-with-nerve-center-of-federal-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Indiana&#8217;s Secretary of State Collaborating with Federal Censorship Hub?"},"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\">22<\/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%2Fwhy-is-indianas-secretary-of-state-partnering-with-nerve-center-of-federal-censorship%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=2250188&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>Indiana Secretary of \u2062State Diego Morales recently met with CISA&#8217;s top official to discuss election \u200dsecurity. The meeting was described\u2064 as &#8220;productive&#8221; in a press release. Concerns were raised\u200d about collaborating with an agency accused of \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/loudon-county-ends-school-meeting-after-pushback-from-parents-parents-sing-star-bangled-banner-cops-make-arrests\/\" title=\"Loudon County Ends School Meeting After Pushback From Parents, Parents Sing Star Bangled Banner, Cops Make Arrests\">suppressing free speech<\/a>. The article delves into the controversial \u200dactions of CISA and its impact\u200b on election \u200cintegrity. Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales met with a top official from CISA to discuss election security. The meeting was productive, as per a press release. Collaboration concerns arose due \u2063to \u2062accusations of suppressing free speech by the agency. The article explores CISA&#8217;s controversial actions and their implications on election integrity.  <\/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><a href=\"https:\/\/www.in.gov\/sos\/about-sos\/about-the-secretary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales<\/a> met with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)\u2019s top First Amendment shredder last week, taking pictures and chatting about \u201celection security.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>It was a \u201cproductive\u201d meeting, according to a positive <a href=\"https:\/\/events.in.gov\/event\/secretary-morales-meets-with-cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency-cisa-director-collaboration-on-election-safety-efforts?utm_campaign=widget&#038;utm_medium=widget&#038;utm_source=State+of+Indiana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press release<\/a> from the secretary\u2019s office. CISA Director Jen Easterly, Morales, and other state and federal election security officials discussed everything from \u201chigh level technology capabilities\u201d to \u201ccombatting foreign threats, protecting election administrators, and the process of distributing accurate information about election infrastructure security.\u201d<\/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__b89e9-826459129\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-66b940db80076bd2f0977cc0b4d2cd59 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-66b940db80076bd2f0977cc0b4d2cd59\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"jFZkZ424DsdAI3KUW0CIqhSNGnVRpL5ixU5cH99gwhNrEysL8THvWkfQDb3eY8Slo1d2BbJxOJ0ymQawFAuM7ltTYO\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Secretary Morales Meets with Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director, Jen Easterly and other state\/federal election security officials.  <\/p>\n<p>CLICK HERE FOR OUR FULL PRESS RELEASE: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/U0dd3PdXrA\">https:\/\/t.co\/U0dd3PdXrA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/m0FaPIDV06\">pic.twitter.com\/m0FaPIDV06<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Secretary of State Diego Morales (@SOSDiegoMorales) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SOSDiegoMorales\/status\/1791534193484193820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>All smiles and good feelings. And collaboration. Lots of collaboration. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Indiana\u2019s Chief Election Officer, we cannot be complacent in how we conduct our elections, and we must take precautions against any potential threats,\u201d Morales said. <\/p>\n<p>But what if the threat is coming from the constitution-crushing federal agency you\u2019re collaborating with? <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Insidious\u2019 Assault on Elections<\/h2>\n<p>There was nothing in the press release about CISA working with Big Tech to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/05\/why-cisas-censorship-and-election-interference-work-is-the-most-insidious-attack-on-american-democracy\/\">silence speech and interfere in U.S. elections<\/a>. Whether Morales voiced any concerns about the suppressive activities of the notorious Department of Homeland Security agency is not clear. The secretary of state\u2019s spokeswoman did not return The Federalist\u2019s two requests for comments Monday and Tuesday. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1c9d205872e58d84d48cf0cd7f4b36b9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1c9d205872e58d84d48cf0cd7f4b36b9\"><\/div>\n<p>I asked Morales\u2019 office the following questions in an email: <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Does the secretary have a comment on the alarming activities of CISA in silencing free speech and information about election law violations and irregularities in elections?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Is the secretary concerned that working with a government agency that has sought to stifle and block the distribution of \u201caccurate information about election infrastructure security\u201d could be problematic? <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Does the secretary have concerns that working with this agency could lead to the same speech-suppressing outcomes in the name of combating \u201cdisinformation\u201d \u2014 and that doing so could be disastrous, not only for conservatives but for the basic tenets of the First Amendment? <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Morales\u2019 peer and fellow Republican, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/12\/how-west-virginias-mac-warner-is-fighting-the-worst-election-interference-in-u-s-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">earlier this year<\/a> called out CISA and fellow deep state agencies for collaborating on the \u201cworst election inference\u201d in U.S. history. <\/p>\n<p> \u201cWhen we have our own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-west-virginias-mac-warner-is-fighting-the-worst-election-interference-in-u-s-history\/\" title=\"West Virginia's Mac Warner battles the 'worst election interference' in U.S. history\">federal agencies lying<\/a> to the American people, that\u2019s the most insidious thing that we can do in elections,\u201d Warner told officials from the FBI and CISA on a panel at the February meeting of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&#038;rct=j&#038;q=&#038;esrc=s&#038;source=web&#038;cd=&#038;ved=2ahUKEwjB8P7v0tOEAxXghIkEHXT_BSMQFnoECAcQAQ&#038;url=http:\/\/www.nass.org\/&#038;usg=AOvVaw1N89hMFvSnOnINMrbf9hoX&#038;opi=89978449\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Association of Secretaries of State<\/a> (NASS) in Washington, D.C., according to Wired. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Censorship \u2018Nerve Center\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>CISA, as The Federalist has extensively <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/05\/why-cisas-censorship-and-election-interference-work-is-the-most-insidious-attack-on-american-democracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, was established in 2018 to ostensibly \u201cprotect <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/cisa-staff-report6-26-23.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018critical infrastructure\u2019<\/a> and guard against cybersecurity threats.\u201d It moved into the nefarious business of information management\u00a0by partnering with Big Tech to silence speech that it deemed to be \u201cdisinformation,\u201d \u201cmisinformation,\u201d or the Orwellian-sounding \u201cmalinformation.\u201d CISA worked behind the scenes to censor those who questioned everything from the administration of the 2020 elections to the government\u2019s iron-fisted handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f70a422499cf2b6379520f81305f1299 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f70a422499cf2b6379520f81305f1299\"><\/div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/cisa-staff-report6-26-23.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> released last fall by the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government details just how CISA \u201cColluded With Big Tech And \u2018Disinformation\u2019 Partners To Censor Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CISA \u201chas facilitated the censorship of Americans directly and through third-party intermediaries,\u201d the congressional report <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/05\/why-cisas-censorship-and-election-interference-work-is-the-most-insidious-attack-on-american-democracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">states<\/a>, going on to assert that the shadowy agency has \u201cmetastasized into the nerve center of the federal government\u2019s domestic surveillance and censorship operations on social media.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>A federal <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/social-media-protected-speech-lawsuit-injunction-148c1cd43f88a0284d5a3c53fd333727\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> filed by then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, now a U.S. senator, uncovered troubling conversations between the Biden administration and private companies about the pathways for removing information the government deemed false or misleading. Last year, Louisiana District Judge Terry A. Doughty slapped a preliminary injunction on the speech cops, asserting that deep staters from the Biden White House to the FBI, CDC, and CISA appeared to have engaged in \u201cthe most massive attack against free speech in United States\u2019 history.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration quickly appealed, \u201cironically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/opinion\/u-s-government-says-inability-to-censor-you-causes-it-irreparable-harm-5385717\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arguing<\/a> that by being barred from censoring disfavored speech by social media proxy, the government itself was being censored,\u201d as Ben Weingarten <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\">wrote<\/a> in The Federalist. <\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/ago.mo.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Doc.-238-1-Fifth-Circuit-Opinion.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">early September,<\/a> the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld much of the lower court\u2019s injunction, asserting that evidence showed the existence of \u201ca coordinated campaign\u201d of unprecedented \u201cmagnitude orchestrated by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/treasury-department-hit-with-large-scale-breach-national-security-council-now-involved\/\" title=\"Treasury Department Hit with Large-Scale Breach, National Security Council Now Involved\">federal officials<\/a> that jeopardized a fundamental aspect of American life.\u201d The appeals court initially spared CISA, but extended the injunction to the agency in a revised opinion a few weeks later. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/2023\/10\/justices-allow-federal-government-continued-communication-over-social-media-content-moderation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">In October<\/a>, the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/23pdf\/23a243_7l48.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed off<\/a> on a Biden administration request to put a hold on the injunction while the high court takes up the case. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch called the court\u2019s order \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/23pdf\/23a243_7l48.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unreasoned\u201d and \u201chighly disturbing.\u201d<\/a>  During <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/2024\/03\/supreme-court-seems-skeptical-of-restricting-government-communications-with-social-media-companies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oral arguments<\/a> in March, a majority of the justices expressed concerns that checking the government\u2019s power to press Big Tech to do its bidding could prevent the government from protecting the public. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Our Continued Partnership\u2019 <\/h2>\n<p>Unconstrained, the same agencies that lied about the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/01\/8-unbelievable-claims-from-hunter-bidens-congressional-deposition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hunter Biden laptop<\/a> story and moved to smear it as \u201cdisinformation\u201d in the weeks before the 2020 election are looking to jump back into the speech-suppressing arena. As The Federalist\u2019s Shawn Fleetwood <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/08\/fbi-confirms-its-restarting-online-censorship-efforts-ahead-of-2024-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> earlier this month, the FBI and CISA have resumed conversations with Big Tech platforms. They\u2019re talking about \u201cremoving disinformation on their sites as the November presidential election nears,\u201d 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>.  <\/p>\n<p>Here we go again. <\/p>\n<p>Now, Easterly and the rest of the gang at the \u201cnerve center\u201d of government surveillance and censorship are calling on state officials and local officials, ostensibly to help with \u201cprotecting the integrity of elections and increasing voter confidence,\u201d according to the Indiana secretary of state\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had the privilege of spending time with Chief Election Officials across the country of both parties and witness how tirelessly they work to ensure that their citizens\u2019 votes are counted as cast. It\u2019s why I have confidence in the integrity of our elections, and why the American people should as well,\u201d Easterly said in the<a href=\"https:\/\/events.in.gov\/event\/secretary-morales-meets-with-cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency-cisa-director-collaboration-on-election-safety-efforts?utm_campaign=widget&#038;utm_medium=widget&#038;utm_source=State+of+Indiana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> press release.<\/a> \u201cI\u2019m especially grateful for Secretary Morales\u2019 leadership and look forward to our continued partnership as we work together to ensure the security and resilience of our election infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4504b21c503d88f5d3d2b18e825db35e fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4504b21c503d88f5d3d2b18e825db35e\"><\/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>Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales recently met with CISA&#8217;s top official known for First Amendment controversies. They discussed election security, with Morales deeming it a &#8220;productive&#8221; meeting in a positive press release. The gathering included CISA Director Jen Easterly and representatives from state and federal election bodies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2250189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-22-at-9.43.13%E2%80%AFAM-e1716385481963.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2250188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-22-at-9.43.13%E2%80%AFAM-e1716385481963.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250188","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\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2250188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2250189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2250188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2250188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2250188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}