FBI facilitated social media ‘takedown requests’ made by Ukrainian spy agency: report
Posted by M. C. on July 21, 2023
“In light of well-documented instances of the FBI’s civil liberties abuses, this new information raises grave concerns about the FBI’s credibility as the nation’s premier law enforcement organization,” the report states.
It alleges that the “FBI violated the First Amendment rights of Americans and potentially undermined our national security.”
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The FBI colluded with a Ukrainian intelligence agency to pressure social media companies into taking down accounts accused of spreading Russian disinformation — some of which belonged to Americans, a House committee said.
The report issued by the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Monday was part of the Republican-controlled committees’ probe into the federal government’s role in censoring speech on social media platforms.
The report is based on documents subpoenaed from Meta – the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – and Alphabet – the parent company of Google and YouTube – in February.
“In light of well-documented instances of the FBI’s civil liberties abuses, this new information raises grave concerns about the FBI’s credibility as the nation’s premier law enforcement organization,” the report states.
It alleges that the “FBI violated the First Amendment rights of Americans and potentially undermined our national security.”
The FBI did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The committees found that following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) enlisted the FBI in support of an effort to combat the spread of “Russian disinformation” on social media.
As part of the effort, the SBU transmitted lists of social media accounts to the FBI that it wanted to be banned and the bureau, in turn, “routinely relayed these lists to the relevant social media platforms.”
The report characterizes the SBU’s initiative as a “censorship operation” and accuses the intelligence agency of having been “compromised by a network of Russian collaborators, sympathizers, and double agents at the time of its interactions with the FBI.”
The committee claims that “the authentic accounts of Americans, including a verified US State Department account and those belonging to American journalists” were ensnared in the censorship effort and flagged for social media companies to take down.
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