A recent revelation shows how the Homeland Security Department sought to justify its efforts to censor information disseminated on social media platforms. Earlier this year, the agency’s attempt to conceal efforts to squash certain viewpoints online placed it under increased scrutiny amid nationwide concerns about federal agencies violating the First Amendment.
Now, a Fox News exclusive report exposed internal DHS documents in which officials tried to justify their actions as the White House’s ill-fated disinformation board was being formed.
Recent revelations, as unveiled in a Fox News report, about the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) stance on “misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation” has rekindled longstanding concerns about the federal government’s approach to free speech. At the core of the discussion is the relationship between national security and the First Amendment.
New documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests show that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) argued that the agency has authority in regulating “misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation” despite the disbandment of the agency’s highly criticized Disinformation Governance Board.
In heavily redacted memos obtained by Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) and reviewed exclusively by Fox New Digital, the agency appeared to circulate ahead of the launch of the disinformation board justification that DHS has regulatory or statutory authority in the “the MDM Space” – short for “misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.
But because DHS withheld all the substance in these memos that AFPF requested via FOIA and then by a lawsuit, the group says DHS is effectively relying on secret authorities for its work in the “MDM Space.”
“If DHS believes it has the authority to police people’s online speech, it should be open with the public about what those authorities are,” AFPF Director of Investigations Kevin Schmidt told Fox News Digital.
“The idea that any agency with such vast political power believes it has the authority to determine what ideas count as good or true upsets the delicate balance of power established by our founding fathers,” he said.
DHS and the Patriot Act, both, were implemented by gw bush to begin the reign in of freedom for all Americans, unless you are part of the swamp, of course.