A brand-new report from the House Judiciary Committee takes a deep dive into the government’s despicable efforts to control information through partnerships with universities and Big Tech.
According to the report, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State coordinated with Stanford University and other colleges to develop an "Election Integrity Partnership" (EIP) in 2020. The partnership provided “a way for the federal government to launder its censorship activities in hopes of bypassing both the First Amendment and public scrutiny."
The allegations are outlined in the Judiciary Committee's Nov. 6 interim staff report, titled "The Weaponization of 'Disinformation' Pseudo-experts and Bureaucrats: How the Federal Government Partnered with Universities to Censor Americans' Free Speech.”
Members of the EIP followed a straightforward censorship process. First, “external stakeholders,” including federal agencies and organizations funded by the federal government, submitted misinformation reports. Then EIP misinformation analysts would scour the internet for additional examples.
The report goes on to detail the disgraceful process:
“If the submitted report flagged a Facebook post, for example, the EIP analysts searched for similar content on Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and other major social media platforms. Once all of the offending links were compiled, the EIP sent the most significant ones directly to Big Tech with specific recommendations on how the social media platforms should censor the posts, such as reducing the posts’ “discoverability,” “suspending [an account’s] ability to continue tweeting for 12 hours,” “monitoring if any of the tagged influencer accounts retweet” a particular user, and, of course, removing thousands of Americans’ posts.”
Put simply, the federal government triggered the operation, the EIP proposed speech guidance, and Big Tech delivered action.
Government censorship directly harmed top conservative social media accounts – even government employees – like President Donald Trump, Sen.Thom Tillis, Gov. Mike Huckabee, and Reps. Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Prominent Convention of States endorsers were also targeted, such as Charlie Kirk, James O’Keefe, Dave Rubin, and Sean Hannity.
Conservative posts that were, in fact, accurate received misinformation labels, while false information shared by liberal accounts received no retaliation. The silencing was largely one-sided and the advantageous results were one-sided.
“The pseudoscience of disinformation is now—and has always been—nothing more than a political ruse most frequently targeted at communities and individuals holding views contrary to the prevailing narratives," the report continued.
The word ‘pseudo’ means fake or counterfeit. The past three years have taught us there are many ‘pseudo’ narratives and public servants who are willing to breach the First Amendment in pursuit of control.
We cannot live freely and authentically without transparent and free access to information. This frightening report provides all the more reasons to finally hold the government accountable by calling an Article V convention.
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