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The video above options the November 30, 2023, Space Judiciary Committee listening to at the Weaponization of the Federal Govt.1
During the last 12 months, the Subcommittee at the Weaponization of the Federal Govt has launched a number of reviews detailing how the federal government is a) harassing and intimidating voters to close down unwanted viewpoints, b) the use of incorrect information and propaganda to power false narratives and c) censoring secure speech the use of 3rd events. Right here’s an inventory of the ones reviews that you’ll peruse at your comfort.
The Subcommittee additionally filed an amicus temporary on Missouri v. Biden in early August 2023.
Rep. Thomas Massie Censored
Govt-funded organizations had been flagging legitimate congressional accounts, together with mine, to get posts censored on social media. If the federal government will try to censor a member of Congress’s communications to his constituents, the federal government will censor any person. percent.twitter.com/kvD3s9XlMv
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 30, 2023
Across the one-hour mark within the featured video, Rep. Thomas Massie questions Olivia Troye — a former intelligence legitimate on the Division of Place of birth Safety beneath President Obama and a countrywide safety and counterterrorism adviser to vice chairman Mike Pence — in regards to the U.S. authorities’s use of 3rd birthday party organizations to censor secure speech.
The related clip is incorporated above. In her opening observation, Troye accused the Committee of “indulging in myth indifferent from truth.” “Participants of this committee and their witnesses make grand and obscure accusations about authorities censorship,” she stated. She additionally claimed the individuals had been “spreading conspiracy theories about authorities censorship.”
Massie went on to indicate to a tweet he posted Would possibly 19, 2021, beneath his legitimate congressional account, wherein he had connected to a peer-reviewed learn about that discovered the effectiveness of herbal immunity used to be similar to that of the Pfizer COVID shot.
“Right here’s a complete learn about that tracked reinfections and COVID headaches for 187,549 folks with prior SARS-CoV2 an infection,” he wrote in his tweet. “Conclusion: Effectiveness of immunity because of prior an infection is equal to for the Pfizer vaccine.”
This tweet used to be censored by means of Twitter after the Stanford Web Observatory’s Virality Mission flagged it as “incorrect information.” As detailed in earlier articles, the Virality Mission is partnered with CISA and funded by means of the U.S. authorities to accomplish censorship actions the federal government can not legally carry out.
When requested if she idea there used to be a explanation why to flag Massey’s tweet, Troye spoke back, “Is dependent upon whether or not you’re spreading faulty data.” However who determines its “accuracy”?
It used to be a peer-reviewed, printed learn about, which means that a number of scientists who weren’t a part of the learn about reviewed it. Is the Virality Mission certified to pass judgement on the accuracy of printed analysis? This can be a very unhealthy slippery slope. If we can not percentage peer-reviewed science, which is the epitome of “respected supply,” then what, precisely, is appropriate to percentage?
“Are you going to sit down right here and take care of that this can be a conspiracy concept that this befell?” Massey requested Troye. “We’ve got the paperwork … that confirmed this [censorship] befell.”
“Smartly, then it [Massey’s tweet] will have to were flagged for a explanation why,” Troye responded.
“What explanation why?” stated Massey. “Is there ever a just right explanation why to censor a member of Congress? … I carry this up, No. 1 to turn that your testimony is fake. However No. 2, if they are able to do that to a member of Congress’ legitimate account, they are able to do it to anyone.”
Whistleblower Unearths Army Contractors’ Secret Plan for Censorship
Investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger testified at this assembly for the second one time. 9 months in the past, he testified and shared proof with the Subcommittee in regards to the lifestyles of a “Censorship Commercial Advanced, a community of presidency businesses, together with the Division of Place of birth Safety, authorities contractors, and Large Tech media platforms that conspired to censor odd American citizens and elected officers alike for containing disfavored perspectives.”2
All of that used to be wild sufficient, however there’s extra. On the November 30 listening to, Shellenberger uncovered a bunch referred to as the Cyber Risk Intelligence League (CTIL), which is composed of army contractors that aren’t handiest censoring American citizens, but in addition the use of subtle mental operations towards us.
In step with Shellenberger, the CTIL used to be based by means of a bunch of former Israeli and British intelligence brokers who to begin with volunteered their cybersecurity services and products FOR FREE to multi-billion-dollar health facility and well being care organizations within the U.S.
CTIL additionally gives bodily safety and “cognitive” safety, i.e., coverage towards incorrect information, and those services and products are volunteered by means of U.S. and British army contractors. In step with a whistleblower who shared interior CTIL paperwork with Shellenberger, a variety of CTIL “volunteers” are recently in authorities make use of.
Additionally they used formal authorities letter head (FBI, CISA, U.S. Army and so forth) when speaking with every different. As famous by means of Massey, that “makes it onerous for other folks to assert that those weren’t brokers of the federal government or performing in coordination with the federal government …”
CTIL Recordsdata Display Censorship Plot Is Larger Than Imagined
Now, the CTIL’s plan to regulate the guidelines panorama is going additional than the ones of CISA, the Virality Mission and different government-led censorship actions. CTIL’s plan additionally comprises the use of debanking as monetary leverage to close folks up, and pressuring social media platforms to modify their phrases of provider to facilitate censorship and deplatforming beneath the guise of “phrases of provider violations” — and extra.
In a December 4, 2023, Substack article, Shellenberger’s colleague, Alex Gutentag wrote about this new cache of paperwork, known as the CTIL Recordsdata:3
“All the way through remaining Thursday’s [November 30, 2023] Congressional listening to at the Weaponization of the Federal Govt, Democratic individuals of Congress insisted4 that censorship efforts of teams just like the Cyber Risk Intelligence League (CTIL),5 the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP),6 and the Virality Mission (VP)7 had been benign and now not a contravention of the First Modification.
‘It is not the First Modification!’ stated Rep. Dan Goldman, ‘It is the [social media platforms’] Phrases of Provider … And they’re flagging it for the social media firms to make their very own selections. That isn’t the First Modification. That’s the Phrases of Provider.’
However the CTIL Recordsdata, a trove of paperwork {that a} whistleblower equipped to Public and Racket, expose that US and UK army contractors evolved and used complicated ways — together with challenging that social media platforms trade their Phrases of Provider — to form public opinion about Covid-19, and that obtaining content material got rid of used to be only one technique utilized by the Censorship Commercial Advanced.”
Hostile Incorrect information and Affect Techniques and Tactics
As defined by means of Gutentag,8 the CTIL partnered with the Division of Place of birth Safety’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company (CISA) to enforce a framework referred to as “AMITT,” which stands for “Hostile Incorrect information and Affect Techniques and Tactics.”
The predecessor to this program used to be the DISARM framework — described as an “open-source, community-led9 … grasp framework for combating disinformation thru sharing knowledge and research, and coordinating efficient motion10” — created by means of the DISARM Basis in 2017.
In step with the DISARM Basis, AMITT used to be introduced with the monetary give a boost to of the Craig Newmark Philanthropies in 2019.11,12 The AMITT framework comprises various “offensive movements,” together with:13
- Influencing authorities coverage
- Discrediting choice media
- The use of bots and sock puppets to govern and direct public dialogue
- Pre-bunking
- Counter-messaging
Extra particular AMITT methods come with however aren’t restricted to:
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Growing coverage that forces social media to police mis- and disinformation |
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Growing “sturdy discussion” between the government and personal sector to beef up reporting |
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Marginalizing and discrediting “extremists” |
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Naming and shaming “influencers” who percentage unsanctioned data |
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Simulating incorrect information and disinformation campaigns, and responses to them, previously |
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Debanking offenders and chopping off their get entry to to monetary services and products14 |
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“Inoculating” populations towards “incorrect information” the use of “media literacy coaching” |
A Complete-Fledged Army-Led Affect Operation
Gutentag continues:15
“Some distance from merely protective the general public from falsehoods, each authorities and non-profit actors inside Censorship Commercial Advanced have adopted CTIL’s actual playbook and feature waged a full-fledged affect operation towards American citizens.
This affect operation has deep ties to safety and intelligence businesses, as is evidenced thru many examples of collaboration. In a single example of such collaboration, supposedly unbiased “disinformation researchers” like Renée DiResta coordinated16 a 2020 election tabletop workout with army officers.
Protection and intelligence investment helps a lot of the Censorship Commercial Advanced. For example, Graphika, which used to be keen on each EIP and VP, receives grants from the Division of Protection, DARPA, and the Army.
Pentagon-affiliated entities are closely keen on ‘anti-disinformation’ paintings. Mitre, a significant protection contractor, gained investment to take on ‘disinformation’ about elections and COVID.
The USA authorities paid Mitre, a company staffed by means of former intelligence and army body of workers, to observe and file17 what American citizens stated in regards to the virus on-line, and to increase vaccine self belief messaging.18
This government-backed army analysis staff, Public came upon, used to be provide within the EIP and VP incorrect information reporting device, and in election disinformation file emails to CISA …
Why are businesses that should fight overseas threats the use of military-grade mental gear to salary affect operations towards the home inhabitants?”
Anti-Democratic Ideology Is Riding the Censorship
As famous by means of Gutentag, those efforts seem to be partially pushed by means of the want to manufacture perceived threats to justify the lifestyles of the counter-terror paperwork.” However there also are transparent ideological elements at play. He writes:19
“Each [federal law enforcement and the intelligence community] now necessarily deal with American citizens as an enemy inhabitants, with monumental give a boost to from the Democratic birthday party and the legacy media.
The outcome has been large-scale data conflict towards US voters, with subtle ways being hired to increase propaganda narratives about Trump, COVID, and the 2020 election within the title of combatting ‘disinformation.’ We are actually uncovering the transparent proof that army contractors seem to have been at the leading edge of this effort …
What used to be as soon as regarded as a ‘conspiracy concept’ that army and intelligence forces had been manipulating public opinion thru inorganic interventions, has now been showed.
Our learn about of the Censorship Commercial Advanced has uncovered a far-reaching plan to subvert the democratic procedure and have interaction in actions that experience a foundation in army ways and that are tantamount to makes an attempt at idea or thoughts regulate.”
The Plan to Get Censorship Again on Twitter
Here’s the pinnacle of the Stanford Web Observatory, Alex Stamos, taunting that Elon Musk “purchased himself right into a hellish lifestyles” the week Musk bought Twitter.
He is going on, 14 instances, to call Tesla as a vulnerability governments may exploit to drive Musk to censor speech percent.twitter.com/f3WuJkWjfr
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) December 4, 2023
The fast clip above options Alex Stamos, head of the Stanford Web Observatory, which runs the federal government’s censorship equipment by the use of its Virality Mission.
In it, he’s taunting Elon Musk, pronouncing he “purchased himself right into a hellish lifestyles” by means of making moderating Twitter his private accountability. In so doing, Musk is striking his internet price, maximum of which is invested in Tesla, in addition to all different Tesla shareholders, “in jeopardy.”
The rationale? 4 phrases: The Virtual Services and products Act.20 This Eu Union legislation, which took impact August 25, 2023, calls for on-line firms to actively police their platforms for “unlawful” content material or face massive fines — as much as 6% in their world income. Repeated refusal to agree to regulations or requests for motion can lead to suspension of the platform throughout the EU altogether.
What Stamos seems to be insinuating is that by means of Musk insisting on preserving X a unfastened speech platform, he dangers shedding all of it, and this type of monetary extortion leverage is strictly what the CTIL plan requires.
Some other Surveillance Program Printed
In comparable information, Stressed out mag just lately reported21 on leaked paperwork that test the lifestyles of a “secretive authorities program” that permits legislation enforcement to get entry to trillions of telephone data of American citizens with out a warrant.
In a up to date letter to the Division of Justice, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden challenged the legality of this system, which has been up and working for greater than a decade. In step with Stressed out:22
“… a surveillance program now referred to as Information Analytical Services and products (DAS) has for greater than a decade allowed federal, state, and native legislation enforcement businesses to mine the main points of American citizens’ calls, examining the telephone data of numerous individuals who aren’t suspected of any crime, together with sufferers.
The use of a method referred to as chain research, this system objectives now not handiest the ones in direct telephone touch with a prison suspect however any person with whom the ones folks were involved as neatly.”
DAS began out as a program referred to as Hemisphere, run by means of the White Space in coordination with AT&T. It used to be renamed DAS in 2013. It captures telephone calls made the use of the AT&T infrastructure on behalf of U.S. legislation enforcement businesses, together with native police, sheriffs’ departments, U.S. customs and postal inspectors.
DAS is controlled beneath an anti-drug trafficking program referred to as HIDTA, which stands for “high-intensity drug trafficking house,” however leaked recordsdata from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Middle (NCRIC) displays the device could also be being utilized in circumstances which can be unrelated to drug trafficking. In step with Stressed out, the DAS knowledge does now not come with recordings of conversations.
The knowledge do, on the other hand, come with figuring out data such because the names of the caller and recipient, their telephone numbers, dates and instances of calls, spanning a minimum of 10 years or extra into the previous. In combination, those knowledge can be utilized to decide the precise places of folks, “a convention deemed unconstitutional with out a warrant in 2018,” Stressed out notes.
In step with Wyden, “The dimensions of the information to be had to and mechanically looked for the good thing about legislation enforcement beneath the Hemisphere Mission is shocking in its scope.” Additionally, it’s now not beneath congressional oversight, and as it’s run out of the White Space, it’s exempt from privateness have an effect on overview regulations and Freedom of Knowledge Act (FOIA) requests.
Protections afforded by means of the Digital Communications Privateness Act also are circumvented as a result of AT&T’s name document assortment happens alongside a telecommunications “spine.”
In early November 2023, Wyden and different lawmakers within the Space and Senate offered the Govt Surveillance Reform Act of 2023,23 which targets to patch the loopholes DAS is recently exploiting.
If handed, the DAS program would turn into explicitly unlawful and would most probably be compelled to close down. So, I beg you to touch your representatives and ask them to give a boost to this regulation.
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