FBI and Big Tech Censorship Exposed: The Coverup of True Information

Government Pressure on Social Media

• FBI and other security agencies directly pressured social media platforms to censor speech, violating the First Amendment.
• The Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) communicated with Twitter, requesting information on content related to the George Floyd protests, even while acknowledging it was First Amendment protected activity.
• This collaboration aimed to enforce a government narrative and suppress dissent, operating for years.

The Global Engagement Center (GEC)

• Originally established as a counterterrorism organization under the Obama administration, the GEC shifted focus after 2016.
• It began monitoring and targeting domestic speech, moving beyond its initial mandate of combating foreign propaganda and recruitment by groups like ISIS.
• The GEC's focus expanded to include a wider range of topics, eventually encompassing domestic discourse.

Shadowbanning and Blacklisting

• The Twitter Files revealed evidence of shadowbanning, where accounts were de-amplified or prevented from trending.
• Jay Bhattacharya, an epidemiologist critical of COVID-19 policies, was placed on a "trends blacklist", demonstrating a method of suppressing specific viewpoints.
• This de-amplification could take many forms, including search bans or limiting visibility to followers.

Malinformation: Truth as a Weapon

• The concept of "malinformation" was used to justify silencing individuals, including Jay Bhattacharya.
• Malinformation is defined as true information presented in a way that does not align with the desired narrative, effectively inverting journalistic principles.
• This tactic allowed for the suppression of factual content, such as true vaccine side effects or hesitancy, by labeling it as problematic or potentially misleading.

Coordinated Content Moderation

• Health bureaucracies, including the CDC and NIH, were intimately involved in content moderation, often working through the White House or directly with platforms.
• Initiatives like Stanford's Verality Project, in collaboration with the Surgeon General's office and CDC, recommended moderation decisions to platforms.
• These projects blurred the lines between factual reporting and disinformation, creating categories for "true content which might promote vaccine hesitancy" or "malinformation."