3 Nov, 2022 by rachelmarsden via thefreeonline
Remember, for example, when Western officials, including US President Joe Biden, were saying that the jab would prevent infection and transmission – Or when the US government spent the better part of two decades repeating that the US was winning in Afghanistan – Or how about the claim that the US wasn’t directly involved in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine
A little-known agency inside the US Department of Homeland Security is on a mighty slippery censorship slope
Partially-censored meeting minutes of the Cybersecurity Advisory Committee advising the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), an agency of the US Department of Homeland Security, have been obtained by The Intercept.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stands alongside President Donald Trump as he speaks prior to signing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16, 2018.Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images© Alex Wong / Getty Images
Key Takeaways
** Though the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) shuttered its controversial Disinformation Governance Board, a strategic document reveals the underlying work is ongoing.
** DHS plans to target inaccurate information on “the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, racial justice, U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the nature of U.S. support to Ukraine.”
** Facebook created a special portal for DHS and government partners to report disinformation directly.
The documents reveal attempts to conflate the need to protect American “critical infrastructure” from what the committee repeatedly describes as threats of “disinformation” – or rather, “mis-, dis-, and mal-information (MDM).”
The meeting notes describe telecommunications infrastructure (which would include the internet) and public healthcare infrastructure as in need of protection from wrong-speak.
see also US biolab accidents going unreported – The InterceptSome have reportedly involved deadly pathogens, and hundreds of cases have been kept from public view
In essence, it keeps up the work of the short-lived and controversial Disinformation Governance Board, which earned the unenviable nickname of the ‘Ministry of Truth’.
The papers focus on countering non-establishment narratives related to Covid-19 origins and vaccines, racial justice, the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and the US’ involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
It also reveals the existence of a back channel for Homeland Security to communicate its desire to boost or censor certain messages on Facebook and Instagram.
US government worked with Big Tech to censor social media – Intercept
Key Takeaways, Cont’d.
- The work is primarily done by CISA, a DHS sub-agency tasked with protecting critical national infrastructure.
- DHS, the FBI, and several media entities are having biweekly meetings as recently as August.
- DHS considered countering disinformation relating to content that undermines trust in financial systems and courts.
- The FBI agent who primed social media platforms to take down the Hunter Biden laptop story continued to have a role in DHS policy discussions.
The nature of these online narratives being targeted for government protection from “disinformation” just happen to coincide with those that evoke a ton of legitimate criticism.
When the government gets directly involved in narrative policing under the guise of “infrastructure protection,” it’s a dodgy pretext that should raise serious concerns about government overreach to the detriment of free expression and flow of information.
No one’s blowing up the internet with mere words. No one’s causing the public health system to fail by debating Covid-related science propagated by the government, even if it later does indeed turn out to be misinformed or questionable.
The inherently subjective nature of what constitutes disinformation provides a broad opening for DHS officials to make politically motivated determinations about what constitutes dangerous speech.
Remember, for example, when Western officials, including US President Joe Biden, were saying that the jab would prevent infection and transmission – and that anyone saying otherwise was full of it?
Or when the US government spent the better part of two decades repeating that the US was winning in Afghanistan – right up until the US withdrawal and the Taliban retaking the country?
Or how about the claim that the US wasn’t directly involved in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine – right up until the Pentagon confirmed the deployment of US troops to Ukraine, albeit not in frontline combat operations.
“We’ve been very clear there are no combat forces in Ukraine, no US forces conducting combat operations in Ukraine, these are personnel that are assigned to conduct security cooperation and assistance as part of the defense attaché office,” Pentagon Press Secretary Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
But based on the rules laid out by this online disinformation policing agency, anyone who dared to reveal evidence, information, or observations that run contrary to what the US government was willing to admit as part of the official narrative could feasibly be considered a peddler of fake info. History has shown, however, that they’re often proved correct. 7
Across the pond, French President Emmanuel Macron was asked recently in an interview with French state media about Russian media outlets remaining accessible in France through online platforms despite state censorship.
In evoking the bans, Macron said, “We’re using the informational weapon.” Like in the US, it sounds like Macron is admitting that the state is using censorship as a weapon against narratives and information that runs counter to their own.
With RT still live, France’s hands are tied – POLITICO It’s unclear whether French authorities can have RT France taken down from fringe platform Odysee.
Apparently, the public’s right to be fully informed and make up their own minds about what’s going on in the world can just be shrugged off as collateral damage.
It’s now becoming commonplace for Western “democracy” to use the law enforcement apparatus of the state to ensure that its propaganda goes unchallenged online and offline.
US puts ‘disinformation board’ on hold
It will be interesting to see how well that goes down with new Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who has been waging a war on censorship on various fronts.
Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, speaks during a new conference in Brownsville, Texas, on Aug. 12, 2021.Photo: Veronica G. Cardenas/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Musk was asked back in March to block Russian news sources on his Starlink satellite network. “We will not do so unless at gunpoint. Sorry to be a free speech absolutist,” he replied.
Musk has also been openly reminded by European Union Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, in the wake of his recent talk of restoring free speech, that the platform would be forced to abide by the bloc’s rules governing public expression. And clearly those aren’t very free.
Related Posts
- November 1, 2022 – “American patriots demanding Ukraine peace negotiations are absolutely right”
- October 28, 2022 – “US Republicans who want diplomacy with Russia are about as pro-Putinï as Reagan was pro-Soviet
- October 22, 2022 – “How Washington extracts billions from foreign companies with overreaching court cases”
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