The House Judiciary Committee released an interim staff report discussing several disturbing discoveries unearthed during its investigation. The document confirms that not only are federal agencies colluding with Big Tech to censor certain viewpoints, they also tried to cover up the malfeasance of those involved in the scandal. This is yet another story showing how members of the government have worked to stifle free speech on the internet.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), initially established as a branch of the Homeland Security Department in 2018 to protect critical infrastructure from cybersecurity threats, has expanded its scope to become a central hub for the federal government’s domestic surveillance and censorship operations on social media platforms. The report highlights how CISA collaborated with these companies to report and combat alleged misinformation and disinformation. The committee explores the agency’s attempts to conceal its activities:
In the years since its creation, however, CISA metastasized into the nerve center of the federal government’s domestic surveillance and censorship operations on social media. By 2020, CISA routinely reported social media posts that allegedly spread ‘disinformation’ to social media platforms.
By 2021, CISA had a formal ‘Mis-, Dis-, and Malinformation’ (MDM) team. In 2022 and 2023, in response to growing public and private criticism of CISA’s unconstitutional behavior, CISA attempted to camouflage its activities, duplicitously claiming it serves a purely ‘informational’ role.
The report also discusses CISA’s involvement with a CISA-funded non-profit organization to carry out its censorship and avoid government propaganda appearances.
The report details CISA’s intentions to establish a whole-of-government approach to combat alleged misinformation and disinformation. It notes discussions about the creation of an anti-misinformation rapid response team that could physically deploy across the United States.
Furthermore, it highlights CISA’s move to shift its censorship operations to a CISA-funded non-profit after facing legal challenges, indicating an implicit admission that its censorship activities are unconstitutional. “However, the subcommittee report notes that after Missouri and Louisiana filed a federal lawsuit challenging the agency’s censorship efforts, CISA outsourced its censorship operations to a nonprofit it financed,” the report noted.
Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “identify, develop, validate, promote, and sustain best practice solutions for cyber defense,” according to its website. The report notes that CISA funded CIS to the tune of $27 million in fiscal year 2024. That’s right, dear reader, this is yet another way you are paying for the federal government to censor you and other Americans.
“CISA moved its censorship operation to a CISA-funded non-profit after CISA and the Biden administration were sued in federal court, implicitly admitting that its censorship activities are unconstitutional,” the report continues.
CISA’s actions raise even more valid concerns from a free speech perspective. Its involvement in monitoring and policing online content reveals that what the Twitter Files exposed about government censorship is more of a pattern than previously suspected. The agency’s expansion into surveilling and flagging domestic speech on social media platforms encroaches upon individuals’ First Amendment rights to free expression.
Also, by arbitrarily categorizing certain speech as “misinformation” or “disinformation” and reporting it to social media platforms, CISA effectively becomes a quasi-gatekeeper of information, potentially leading to the suppression of dissenting or unpopular views. This type of government-induced censorship can have a chilling effect on free speech, stifling open dialogue and undermining the principles of a democratic society.
Furthermore, CISA’s collaboration with Big Tech companies and government-funded non-profits to facilitate content moderation raises concerns about accountability and transparency. By relying on these intermediaries to enforce its policies, CISA effectively delegates the power to decide what speech is permissible or not to private entities. The government is essentially outsourcing its tyranny to private actors to circumvent the Constitution.
This lack of clear guidelines and oversight, combined with the left’s ever-expanding definitions of “misinformation” or “disinformation,” can, and have, resulted in biased content moderation decisions that may disproportionately impact certain individuals or groups based on political affiliation. Such actions seem intended to restrict diversity of ideas and perspectives and ensure that only state-approved narratives flourish in the digital space.
Being that this is only an interim report and the investigation is still ongoing, it seems reasonable to speculate that even more damning information will emerge. The question is: Will anything be done to stop our government from violating our First Amendment rights?