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Originally Posted by finnbow
DHS eventually scrapped the Disinformation Governance Board in August. While free speech advocates cheered the dissolution of the board, other government efforts to root out disinformation have not only continued but expanded to encompass additional DHS sub-agencies like Customs and Border Protection, which “determines whether information about the component spread through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is accurate.”
Monitoring social media to see what kind of lies conservatives are telling the American public about government is completely kosher. How else do you set the record straight when conservatives are spewing lies and propaganda that ends up killing people (through COVID or white nationalist violence, for example) or planning an insurrection? You do realize that MAGAWorld is criticizing the government for not monitoring social media before Jan. 6 to better react to their storming of the Capitol, eh?
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Your comments infer that:
- There's no "right to privacy" on public internet forums. On this, we agree.
- Its OK for law enforcement agencies to review public internet posts. We agree on this one, too.
- Absent any open investigation into a particular person or specific organization, it is OK for Federal Law enforcement agencies to monitor specific messages. On this, we do not agree. This is one step closer to 1984.
- The FBI and DHS are not just monitoring posts. They're obtaining software used to data-mine for certain types of posts. They're using the data that they obtain and, sometimes under false pretenses, using the imprimatur of their FBI or DHS credentials, getting to owners of these sites to do what they can't do: take down these messages. On this, we do not agree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by finnbow
The only reason that conservatives constantly whine about Big Tech "censoring" them is because their political messaging relies heavily on lies and misinformation and their infotainment complex cashes in on it big time. What would today's GOP and Fox News be like if they were actually truthful rather than an endless font of agitprop? One thing's for sure - we would have hundreds of thousands fewer COVID deaths, no insurrection on Jan. 6 and no election deniers running for office. The government's job is to protect Americans. It's quite unfortunate that the biggest threat it faces is one of our two political parties and monitoring their dangerous (publicly available) social media is not remotely akin to censorship.
The only thing interesting thing about this story is that conservatives feel so threatened when their lies and misinformation are fact-checked.
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To the extent that your point about "it depends whose ox is being gored" informs who complains and when, your point is well taken. These types of free speech-crushing actions should matter to anyone, regardless of politics.
However, it also shows me that you didn't read the article. Not surprising, as reading it does require an attention span.
The article does talk about the high-level FBI agents using their back-door communications with Facebook that lead to the removal of links to stories in the NY Post. The content of many aspects of these stories was later authenticated by the NY Times. The FBI used the "Russian disinformation" trope to get Facebook to do their dirty work for them. So, it's not just about social media posts. The FBI and DHS are actively involved in monitoring news organizations and countering their reporting with either outright removal or their own "disinformation".
Does that sound like a legitimate function of the Federal Gov't? Sure sounds like one or more Bill of Rights amendments are being thrown under the bus.