Nina Jankowicz may have passed, but the Department of Homeland Security continues to fight “disinformation”.
Ken Klippenstein and Lee Fang , both Intercept journalists, reviewed years worth of DHS communications. They found that the department was working in tandem with social media companies to combat “misinformation,” disinformation, and “malinformation.” DHS’s Quadrennial Home Security Review showed that DHS wanted to counter “inaccurate” information on “the origins and efficacy COVID-19 vaccines, the racial justice system, and the nature U.S. support for Ukraine.”
You almost forget that the United States has a First Amendment when you read Fang and Klippenstein’s report.
DHS and other government agents are meeting with tech executives regularly to help them influence their content moderation decisions in order to achieve their goals. In internal memos, it is noted that Twitter, Facebook and Reddit met monthly with the FBI in preparation for the 2020 election. These meetings have continued over the years.
The department claims that content decisions are left up to each site and their moderators. However, the federal government can tax and regulate these companies making their advice difficult to ignore. As a result, companies have maintained open communication with government officials. According to reports, Facebook and Meta gave access to a private portal for government officials to report any posts to Facebook administrators.
DHS personnel and other tech employees have exchanged text messages, which illustrates the growing intimacy between the two organizations. For example, Matt Masterson, Microsoft Director of Information Integrity, sent Jen Easterly a text in which he demanded that “Platforms get [sic] comfortable with gov”; Easterly later stated to Masterson her desire to “get us in a position where Fed can work together with platforms to better understand mis/dis trend so relevant agencies can attempt to prebunk/debunk/debunk as useful.”
(“Prebunking” is an Orwellian practice that amplifies government-approved messages in order to inoculate users from unapproved “conspiracy theories.” (See, for instance, Twitter’s link asking users to “learn why voting by mail is safe, secure, and secure,” pointing out the testimony of anonymous experts.
The Intercept reported that DHS has turned its attention towards the domestic front and the rise of “domestic terrorist” using broad interpretations of its counterterrorism mandate. DHS should “hire and develop skilled specialists to better understand the use of threat actors,” which includes those in the United States. It also needs to work with NGOs and civil society in order to strengthen resilience against the effects of false information.
You can see the types of “toxic narratives”, DHS may have in mind if NGOs are involved.
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DHS doesn’t limit its efforts to collect “false information.” The Intercept obtained several documents that highlighted DHS’s efforts to combat “malinformation.” This is information the department considers to be factual but which was used to mislead or harm.
Hillary Clinton’s assertion that fake news was pushed by Russian oligarchs, and Macedonian content farms cost her the 2016 election has triggered a wider “misinformation panic.” The national security state and its media allies have sounded alarms about misleading and false information since her refusal to take responsibility for the loss of that election. Their argument is that people don’t agree with the Democratic Party or its agenda because they don’t have enough information. If false narratives and conspiracy theories, such as the suggestion Bruce Jenner was a man or that the novel coronavirus was escaped from Wuhan’s laboratory, are countered by “experts” who have “data” that activist social scientists have created, the public will lose its backward views and stop supporting Republican candidates.
This is false and the DHS’s latest effort to create a new agency is unlikely to be successful on its own terms.
