The Department of Homeland Security partnered with Stanford University and other colleges to create a ‘disinformation group’ to censor speech leading up to the 2020 election, new emails reveal.
The Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) was created in July 2020, and consisted of members from the Stanford Internet Observatory, the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, Graphika, and the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, according to a new report from the House Judiciary Committee and released Monday evening.
‘[T]he federal government and universities pressured social media companies to censor true information, jokes, and political opinions,’ the report said of the partnership.
Emails and internal communications obtained by the House Judiciary Committee show how the group worked to flag, censor and remove speech online.
‘I know the Council has a number of efforts on broad policy around the elections, but we just set up an election integrity partnership at the request of DHS/CISA and are in weekly comms to debrief about disinfo,’ the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab’s senior director Graham Brookie wrote in an email.
A new report from the House Judiciary Committee revealed emails showing Department of Homeland security officials worked with Stanford University to create a ‘disinformation group’
Stanford University campus pictured. The Election Integrity Partnership was created in July 2020 and consisted of members from the Stanford Internet Observatory
An email from Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab’s senior director Graham Brookie said they set up the EIP at the request of DHS/CISA
The report said the partnership’s effort was directed at Republicans and conservatives by labeling information they posted as ‘misinformation,’ while information posted by Democrats and liberals was largely untouched.
They alleged the partnership was used to ‘censor Americans engaged in core political speech in the lead up to the 2020 election.’
‘The pseudoscience of disinformation is now – and has always been – nothing more than a political ruse most frequently targeted at communities and individuals holding views contrary to the prevailing narratives,’ the report said.
Emails in the report showed DHS’ Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Brian Scully told members of the Office of the Colorado Secretary of State that he had flagged parody accounts to Twitter.
Other emails show Scully communicated with Facebook to remove a post about the election that had been deemed misinformation.
The committee said candidates such as President Donald Trump and North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, entities such as Newsmax and the Babylon Bee, and conservative commentators such as Sean Hannity, Mollie Hemingway and Charlie Kirk were targeted by the group.
Emails in the report showed Foreign Influence Operations and Disinformation Director Brian Scully told members of the Office of the Colorado Secretary of State that he had flagged parody accounts to Twitter
Other emails in the report show Scully communicated with Facebook to remove a post about the election that had been deemed misinformation
In September, federal appeals found that the Biden administration ‘likely violated the First Amendment’ by pressuring social media companies to scrub posts the White House deemed false or misleading.
In that case, known as Missouri v. Biden, Scully testified that switchboarding, the practice of flagging information, was ‘CISA’s role in forwarding reporting received from election officials … to social media platforms,’ said the report.
The Judiciary Committee found emails that showed months-long discussions between CIS and social media companies including Facebook and Twitter over a proposed misinformation portal.
CISA emails included a disclaimer that ‘neither has nor seeks the ability to remove what information is made available on social media platforms.’
The report came from the House Judiciary Committee lead by chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)
The report said the effort was directed at Republicans and conservatives, including then presidential candidate Donald Trump
The report also said, ‘there a number of university students involved with the EIP, at least four of the students were employed by CISA during the operation of EIP, using their government email accounts to communicate with CISA officials and other “external stakeholders” involved with the EIP.’
CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales told Fox News Digital the agency ‘does not and has never censored speech or facilitated censorship.’
‘Every day, the men and women of CISA execute the agency’s mission of reducing risk to U.S. critical infrastructure in a way that protects Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy.’
‘In response to concerns from election officials of all parties regarding foreign influence operations and disinformation that may impact the security of election infrastructure, CISA mitigates the risk of disinformation by sharing information on election literacy and election security with the public and by amplifying the trusted voices of election officials across the nation,’ Wales said.