(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) A new report revealed disturbing evidence that outlined the Biden administration’s efforts to use an insidious collaboration between a division of the Department of Homeland Security and its partners in Big Tech to undermine the First Amendment by censoring free speech using third-party cutouts to cover their tracks.
The U.S. House weaponization of government subcommittee on Monday released a report that cited DHS emails and meeting notes, detailing how the department allegedly used the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to monitor and censor social media speech for anything critical of regime vaccine policy or questioning the 2020 election.
“CISA must be reined in, as must the Biden Administration’s ‘whole-of-government’ approach to social media censorship,” lawmakers wrote in the report.
“Every American has the right to express his or her opinion online, and to receive information from others. Government classifications of opinions as ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation’ do not nullify the First Amendment’s guarantees.”
A chilling aspect of the report is its detailing of how CISA's MDM ("Mis-, Dis-, and Mal-information") Subcmte, comprised of "private" disinfo partners, "pushed aside legitimate criticism and urged CISA to continue on its unconstitutional trajectory" by targeting Americans pic.twitter.com/p9l7IDaonb
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) June 26, 2023
The weaponization committee’s report rolled out a timeline showing CISA moving its censorship operation to third-party intermediaries after the agency and the Biden administration “were sued in federal court, implicitly admitting that its censorship activities are unconstitutional.”
The report claimed that CISA purposefully used the non-profits “as its mouthpiece to ‘avoid the appearance of government propaganda.’”
Documents released in the committee’s report described the CISA transitioning from “countering foreign influence” to policing domestic discussions and debate, forming an official “mis, dis, and malformation” or MDM team.
“Although CISA’s efforts to police speech are highly troubling overall, one particularly problematic aspect is CISA’s focus on ‘malformation,’” the report stated. “According to CISA’s own definition, ‘malformation is based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm or manipulate.”
Hmm… – CISA: "…the “truth” of today can quickly become the “misinformation” of tomorrow…" Does that include this? pic.twitter.com/UpaxDdMTp8
— Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index 🇺🇸 (@alexdatig) June 27, 2023
After being warned last year by the National Association of Secretaries of State “that it is important for CISA to remain within their operational and mission limits. CISA specifically should stick with misinformation and disinformation as related to cybersecurity issues,” the committee’s report claimed CISA redoubled efforts to hide their mission.
Arguably the worst part of CISA’s censorship efforts:
The cover-up.
CISA has attempted to conceal its unconstitutional activities from the American public and remove evidence of wrongdoing. pic.twitter.com/U7VSi2rKmy
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) June 26, 2023
The agency’s cover-up “included scrubbing CISA’s website of references to domestic ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation,’” the report stated.
One member of the agency’s MDM team conceded that its intent was to “disguise the true nature” of its work, according to the report.
“It’s only a matter of time before someone realizes we exist and starts asking about our work,” informed an email obtained by the weaponization subcommittee, reportedly written by a MDM team member.
“Yes. I agree,” another reportedly responded. “We have a couple of pretty obvious vulnerabilities.”
