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The nerve center of the federal governments censorship operations admitted ahead of the 2020 election that mass mail-in voting comes with risks but flagged online posts highlighting such insecurities to Big Tech companies for censorship anyway.

A series of internal documents obtained via open records request by America First Legal (AFL) show that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, was aware of the risks associated with unsupervised mail-in voting in the months leading up to the 2020 election. It was during this same time that the agency was classifying social media posts highlighting these risks as disinformation and flagging them for censorship.

The communications unearthed by AFL reveal that by September 2020, CISA officials knew there was no evidence to support the claim that in-person voting increase[d] the spread of COVID-19 and were aware that mass vote-by-mail schemes presented difficulties to election officials. Among the major challenges highlighted by the agency were the process of mailing and returning ballots, high numbers of improperly completed ballots, and the shortage of personnel to process ballots in a prompt manner.

By October 2020, CISA had crafted a six-point list titled, Mail-In Voting Risk: Infrastructure and Process, which detailed insecurities present in mass mail-in voting operations and offered compensating controls election officials could use to manage them.

One of these risks is that Inbound mail-in ballot processes and tabulation take longer than in-person processing, causing tabulation of results to occur more slowly and resulting in more ballots to tabulate following election night. Under the compensating controls section accompanying that specific issue, CISA noted that Election officials, media, candidates, and NGOs are educating voters and setting the expectation that it will take days, if not weeks, to determine the outcome of many races.

Recall that it took several days after the Nov. 3, 2020, contest before Joe Biden was declared the winner. This was in large part due to states such as Pennsylvania and Nevada still counting ballots days after Election Day.

But it wasnt just CISA officials who were informed of such risks. An Oct. 30, 2020, email indicates the agency shared the aforementioned concerns regarding mail-in voting with members of the corporate press during an unclassified media tour that same day.

Rather than report this information to the American public, self-professed news organizations such as The Washington Post which had staff attend the tour published articles in the days following the Oct. 30 briefing dismissing mail-in ballotings many liabilities and praising CISA for its independence from [President Donald] Trump.

Officials including Krebs have also scrupulously avoided criticizing or even explicitly correcting Trumps unfounded attacks on the elections legitimacy even as their own assessments oftendirectly contradicthis statements about the security of mail ballots and other topics, the Posts Joseph Marks wrote.

Despite its own admission that mail-in voting presented challenges and potential hazards to effective election administration, CISA worked extensively to compel Big Tech platforms to censor posts underscoring such points leading up to the 2020 election. According to AFL, the agency contracted consulting firm Deloitte to report on Daily Social Media Trends relating to the U.S. Election including narratives relating to Vote-By-Mail and to flag specific social media posts for CISAs awareness and attention.

Included in the posts Deloitte sent to CISA was an Oct. 30, 2020, tweet issued by Trump, in which the then-president claimed there were Big problems and discrepancies with Mail In Ballots all over the USA. Deloitte also flagged a post from an unnamed conservative pundit who, as the consulting firm described, accused Twitter of SUPPRESSING a story about the Democratic presidential nominees son to help the nominee win the election.

That post was in reference to Big Techs censorship of the New York Posts Hunter Biden laptop story. OnTwitter (now known as X), users were not permitted to share the story, even via direct message. The platform further removed links and issued alerts that it may be unsafe. Meanwhile, Facebookannouncedshortly after the story broke that it would be reducing [the storys] distribution pending verification by third-party fact-checkers.

Despite having authenticated the laptop in late 2019, the FBI was also heavily involved in these platforms suppression of the story.

CISAs use of Deloitte to flag so-called disinformation online further confirms the findings unearthed in aninterim reportreleased by House Republicans in November. According to that analysis, CISA along with the State DepartmentsGlobal Engagement Center (GEC) colluded with Stanford University to pressure Big Tech companies into censoring what they claimed was disinformation during the 2020 election. At the heart of this operation was theElection Integrity Partnership (EIP), a consortium of disinformation academics spearheaded by the Stanford Internet Observatory that coordinated with DHS and GEC to monitor and censor Americans online speech ahead of the 2020 contest.

[RELATED:State Of Texas Joins The Federalist, Daily Wire In Suing The Federal Censorship-Industrial Complex]

Created at the request of CISA, EIP allowed federal officials to launder [their] censorship activities in hopes of bypassing both the First Amendment and public scrutiny. As documented in the interim report, this operationaimedto censor true information, jokes and satire, and political opinions and submitted flagged posts from prominent conservative figures to Big Tech companies for censorship. Among those targeted were The Federalists Mollie Hemingway and Sean Davis.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

Continued here:
CISA Admitted 'Risks' Of Vote-By-Mail In Internal Docs From 2020 - The Federalist

The New Jersey Library Association (NJLA), the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL), New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) have watched, with concern, the growing number of coordinated attempts of censorship and suppression in schools and libraries in New Jersey and across the country. Many of these attacks are targeting materials and programs that address race, racism, sexuality, and gender identity and expression. New Jersey school, public, and academic library workers are being defamed, harassed and threatened in public school board meetings, public library board of trustees meetings, on social media and on public media. Their professionalism, honor, work ethics and performance are being questioned, judged and vilified.

The signers of this statement condemn these attacks. We strongly affirm the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement, first published by the American Library Association in 1953. We respect and recognize New Jerseys Law Against Discrimination, and refuse to participate in efforts to discriminate against protected groups by weaponizing information. Libraries provide access to books and other library resources and services for the interest, information, education, and enlightenment of all people within the communities we serve. They do not exclude materials because of their origin, background, or the views of those contributing to their creation. Libraries do not discriminate against any group, recognizing that a healthy democracy holds many voices and free access to credible information is a cornerstone that keeps all of us safe, healthy, and informed about the world around us.

Library workers are trained to curate collections that are designed to be inclusive. NJASLs job description states that school librarians are obligated to:

Information service providers are guided by the tenets of intellectual freedom and their ethical responsibilities to uphold the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Through careful consideration and rigorous training, librarians and library workers are equipped to make selection decisions that represent a balance of the spectrum of knowledge.

We appreciate the right and responsibility of parents and guardians to guide the reading choices of their children. Such rights should not inhibit the rights of others to read or view materials of their choosing. As parents, educators, administrators, and school board members, we stand united against prejudices, and politically motivated culture wars that target the right to read and access to education and information.

We reaffirm our commitment to our communities, the right to be who they are and to see themselves represented in books, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or religion.

The New Jersey Library Association, the New Jersey Association of School Librarians and the New Jersey Education Association stand together to support the freedom to read. In addition, these organizations stand in steadfast support of New Jerseys library workers, community members, and students, who demonstrate daily courage as champions of the right to read for everyone.

Signed by: New Jersey Education Association New Jersey Library Association New Jersey School Library Association

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NJEA joins librarians to oppose censorship and book banning - New Jersey Education Association

It is a rough time to be a teacher. Having parents who are interested in their childrens curriculum was the dream once upon a time. Thats become nightmarish as helicopter parents go out of their way to redefine any and everything as too controversial to belong to a learning environment you cant even take kids to see high art anymore. In Texas, there were several highly esteemed authors Shakespeare and Toni Morrison among them that you couldnt teach for fear that it would offend the parents moral sensibilities. Thankfully, Texas teachers have hope of a little more autonomy in their classrooms. From Jurist:

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Wednesday that Texas legislation aimed at restricting or banning sexually explicit books in public school libraries likely violates the Constitution, affirming a lower courts injunction against it. Representatives from the plaintiffs side welcomed the judgment with a sense of triumph and relief: The courts decision also shields Texas businesses from the imposition of impossibly onerous conditions, protects the basic constitutional rights of the plaintiffs, and lets Texas parents make decisions for their own children without government interference or control. This is a good day for bookstores, readers, and free expression.

It is a good day for students, too. Laws that prevent kids from being able to learn are literally stultifying, and its a shame that the main motivator is petty politics. The motivation for these book bans seem more concerned with parents egos than childrens well being. Just take a look at some of the books Texan parents want banned. A Michelle Obama autobiography got shot down because it painted Trump as a bully. 1) So? 2) Hows that second defamation case going for ya? A book called A Good Kind Of Trouble about a 12-year-old joining a protest was attacked for causing a white child to feel confusion or distress. Excuse me, were we not all forced to read Lord of the Flies growing up? Because the thought that my classmates and I would all go feral if the teachers left us to our own devices was far more harrowing than people using the First Amendment.

Best of luck to the teachers in Florida. Even if the books are available to your students, it wont be easy getting them to read them when you have to compete against TikTok.

US Appeals Court Upholds Injunction Against Texas Law Censoring Sexually Explicit School Books [Jurist]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord in the Facebook groupLaw School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim,a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email atcwilliams@abovethelaw.comand by tweet at@WritesForRent.

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Texas Library Censorship Attempt Struck Down By 5th Circuit - Above the Law

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Im Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We turn now to Marione Ingram. Shes an 88-year-old German American Holocaust survivor whos been protesting for months outside the White House calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. She was scheduled to speak this month at eight different schools in her native Hamburg, Germany. She was planning to address students receiving awards recognizing their commitment to social justice activism. Then, in December, she was told by an event organizer that her appearances were canceled. The trip was eventually postponed until May.

AMY GOODMAN: Marione Ingram is author of The Hands of War: A Tale of Endurance and Hope from a Survivor of the Holocaust and also the book The Hands of Peace: A Holocaust Survivors Fight for Civil Rights in the American South. Shes joining us from Washington, D.C.

Marione, Im sorry you had to leave the studio because there was an alarm in the building and everyone had to evacuate, but youre back now. And you have heard the previous guests, two Palestinian American esteemed artists, talking about having been canceled, like you, Samia Halaby by Indiana University, and Emily Jacir was about to give a talk in Berlin. Talk about the reason you were given for going back to Hamburg, Germany, where youve gone a number of times to speak to young people, but the reason why your talks were canceled this month.

MARIONE INGRAM: Good morning, Amy. Yes, a bit of excitement, so I missed I heard Samias explanation of her cancellation Im really sorry about that and missed the other, because we were evacuated.

The reasons for my cancellation have been extremely vague, given a climate in Germany right now of a lot of antisemitic events, apparently. And the only concrete explanation I got from someone was that I, as a Holocaust survivor, would be used by the AfD, which is the Alternative for Deutschland, the Alternative for Germany, which is a neo-Nazi and a primarily antisemitic group. But I was told that they would use my picture and my protest sign in a propaganda I cant even figure out what kind of propaganda that would be used for, since they are basically Nazis and would be a destruction of

AMY GOODMAN: The sign youre talking about is, standing outside the White House, Survivor says peace not war?

MARIONE INGRAM: Yes, yes. But on the flip side, it says Stop genocide in Gaza. And that has upset the powers that be, politicians who decide what can be said and what cannot be said.

I have been speaking to students for years, and I was also told by several teachers that right now my presence, talking to students, is of the utmost importance, because the schools in Hamburg are so diverse and there are many students who come from countries where there is war, oppression, poverty, and students in really terrible positions of trying to manage what is going on, conflict with each other. And I was told that my presence is so important because I have a rapport with students, and they were looking forward to expressing their thoughts, because they know that in talking to me and with me that they can say everything that is on their minds without being criticized or ostracized.

I find it extremely I understand Germanys sensitivity because of their gruesome history. But Germany has also been the only country, maybe other than Rwanda, that has acknowledged its horrific history, and it has taught this history as a never again thing. We must face our history so we can learn from it. So it is surprising to me that Germany has chosen to silence me.

But I think the worst part of it is that they are silencing young people who are experiencing especially in Germany, they are close to the war in Ukraine. They are troubled by what is going on by the war in the Mideast and the horrific slaughter of innocent people. It should be an absolute standstill of all governments when you are told that over 10,000 children are being murdered. There is no excuse for that.

And then to turn around America and Germanys support of Israels politics is extremely disturbing and, to me, frightening, because any time any government decides to silence the voices of people who oppose government policies, whatever they may be, this reminds me so much of my childhood. My childhood was spent in the first 10 years much the same way as the children of Gaza. I know exactly what they are going through. I know exactly what they are thinking. And this, apparently, has upset the Ministry of Culture, because I have compared the onset

AMY GOODMAN: We have less than a minute to go.

MARIONE INGRAM: The silencing of the last survivor of all three major events in Hamburg the firestorm, the worst bombing in the European war, and the Holocaust, where I lost almost all of my family and the silencing of voices like all of our voices when they are most needed is indicative of something more frightening, because I believe when governments decide to silence voices in opposition to the stance that they are taking, then we have to really question very deeply why are they doing it and for what reason.

AMY GOODMAN: Marione Ingram, were going to have to leave it there, but we thank you so much for being with us, 88-year-old Jewish German Holocaust survivor, has been protesting, calling for Biden to support a Gaza ceasefire.

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Censorship over Palestine: Holocaust Survivor Decries Repression After Talks in Germany Are Canceled - Democracy Now!

January 11, 2024

FOIA for EPA Records on Facebook Censorship of East Palestine Posts Filed

WASHINGTON Yesterday, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking communications between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Facebook regarding posts about the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The request comes after reports that Facebook flagged or removed posts by whistleblowers and community activists about potential health impacts of the Norfolk Southern train derailment. The posts were on pages such as East Palestine Off the Rails and personal accounts of residents and whistleblowers.This FOIA specifically requests EPA communications with Facebook employees about train derailment-related content and any EPA contracts or financial ties with the social media company.

The FOIA request was filed after whistleblower client Scott Smith, an independent scientist who discovered elevated dioxin levels in East Palestine, reported that Facebook flagged his verified public figure profile after resident and outspoken advocate, Jami Rae Wallace, tagged Smith on his Facebook timeline on November 25 when she shared the Huffington Post article, A Roll of the Dice: The Unknown Threat of Exposure to Chemical Mixtures.Previously, Jami Rae Wallace received a text from Mark Durno, EPA Region 5 leader on the ground and Homeland Security Advisor, telling her to remove her Facebook post where she posted to think critically about answers the EPA was giving residents regarding their health.

This post may go against our guidelines on suggested content, Facebook alerted. This post may show content that is broadly disliked. Common reasons are clickbait, contests or giveaways, engagement bait or links to low quality or deceptive websites.Smiths post also contained the following message from Facebook: Here is the content that hurt your good standing.

The flagged news article focused on synergistic toxicity, the cumulative impacts of multiple chemicals and how scientists fail to adequately assess chemical mixtures in disasters like East Palestine, where residents were exposed to a cocktail of chemicals after the fiery derailment last year and subsequent burning of multiple train cars. Chemicals burned or created by the ignition include vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, dioxins, and more.The EPA has continually maintained that the chemicals of concern were all below action levels while residents continue to report symptoms.

This situation comes one month after Norfolk Southern served Smith with a subpoena for his communications and test results on the water, furnace filters, and soil contamination in East Palestine.

Whistleblower client, Scott Smith, stated,

Anyone who cares about their constitutional rights and free speech needs to pay attention to what is happening in East Palestine, Ohio. That is why we need EPA records to shine light on any coordination with Facebook to suppress the free sharing of information on what is currently happening to residents there. The government should not be serving as a mechanism of censorship to protect multi-billion-dollar corporations.

Our Environmental Investigator, Lesley Pacey, commented

Facebook should not be censoring independent scientists or East Palestine residents who are understandably concerned about pollution in their backyards. The public has a right to discuss and debate the governments response to this environmental disaster as well as post news articles that legitimately address potential health risks. Facebook unfairly targeted Smiths post when it was scientifically factual. Was there an algorithm that flagged the post or another reason? Social media censorship should never interfere with informed public discourse, especially during an ongoing health emergency.

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FOIA for EPA Records on Facebook Censorship of East Palestine Posts Filed - Government Accountability Project