“The Weaponization of the Federal Government”: The FBI’s Collaboration with a Compromised Ukrainian Intelligence Agency to Censor American Speech
Interim Staff Report of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government
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Global Research Editor’s Note
There are some contradictory pro-forma statements in this report, specifically with regard to Russia’s special services.
What this report underscores is the insidious role of the FBI in seeking the support of “the world’s largest social media platforms including Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube”.
This censorship which also includes Twitter has not only become routine, it has extended Worldwide. In regards to Global Research, it started with Russiagate, following an ugly smear operation by Canada’s mainstream media, which was conducive to the outright exclusion of globalresearch.ca from the search engines.
RussiaGate consisted in a Witch-hunt directed against the independent online media, which were casually tagged as “Russian trolls”, “Russian bots”. In chorus, the Western media was involved in accusing Moscow of election meddling in both the U.S and Canada without a shred of evidence.
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Executive Summary
“Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the state’s national security, and the links recorded between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services raise very serious questions about their respective leaders.” [1] – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, July 17, 2022.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is the bedrock of our political system and guarantees every American the right to speak his or her mind freely and without interference from the government. It is predicated on the understanding that no government official has a monopoly on the truth and that every American is capable of evaluating competing claims and deciding what to believe.
On February 15, 2023, as part of its investigation into the federal government’s role in censoring lawful speech on social media platforms, the Committee on the Judiciary issued a subpoena to Meta,[2] the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet,[3] the parent company of Google and YouTube. Documents obtained in response to those subpoenas revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on behalf of a compromised Ukrainian intelligence entity, requested—and, in some cases, directed—the world’s largest social media platforms to censor Americans engaging in constitutionally protected speech online.
The Committee’s investigation has revealed that the FBI, the federal law enforcement agency responsible for disrupting foreign malign influence,[4] facilitated censorship requests to American social media companies on behalf of a Ukrainian intelligence agency infiltrated by Russian-aligned actors. In so doing, the FBI violated the First Amendment rights of Americans and potentially undermined our national security. 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.[5]
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU[6]) sought to identify and impair suspected Russian influence operations on social media.[7] The SBU enlisted the FBI in support of this effort, transmitting to the FBI lists of social media accounts that allegedly “spread Russian disinformation.”[8] The FBI, in turn, routinely relayed these lists to the relevant social media platforms, which distributed the information internally to their employees in charge of content moderation and enforcement.[9] The graphic above illustrates the FBI’s intermediary role in the SBU’s censorship operation; the graphic below illustrates the remarkable frequency with which requests were sent by the FBI and SBU to American social media platforms.
The Committee’s analysis of these “disinformation” registries revealed that the FBI, at the request of the SBU, flagged for social media companies the authentic accounts of Americans, including a verified U.S. State Department account and those belonging to American journalists. The FBI and SBU repeatedly requested the removal or suspension of authentic accounts expressing unambiguously pro-Ukrainian views, as well as those voicing opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin. At times, the FBI would even follow up with the relevant platform to ensure that “these accounts were taken down.”[10] Regardless of its intended purpose in endorsing the SBU’s requests, the FBI had no legal justification for facilitating the censorship of Americans’ protected speech on social media.
In July 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the head of the SBU on account of Russian infiltration of the SBU.[11] Given that the SBU was compromised by a network of Russian collaborators, sympathizers, and double agents at the time of its interactions with the FBI,[12] the FBI’s uncritical cooperation with the SBU’s requests is deeply concerning. The inclusion of American accounts on the SBU’s lists indicates that the FBI either did not properly vet the SBU’s requests or was aware of their domestic nature, and nonetheless carried them out. These findings highlight the need for additional oversight and legislative reform to protect Americans’ free speech rights.
The Committee, through and with its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, is charged with investigating “violation[s] of the civil liberties of citizens of the United States.”[13] Pursuant to this authority and the Committee’s responsibility to conduct oversight of the FBI, this interim staff report fulfills the ongoing obligation to identify and report on the weaponization of the federal government against the American people. The Committee and Select Subcommittee will continue to investigate the FBI’s relevant interactions with the SBU and social media platforms in order to better inform the Committee’s legislative efforts to safeguard Americans’ civil liberties.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
Background ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5
I. FBI components involved in the FBI-SBU censorship scheme………………………………………………5
A. Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF)………………………………………………………………………………..5
B. San Francisco Field Office……………………………………………………………………………………………..6
C. Legal Attachés (Legats)…………………………………………………………………………………………………6
II. Russian infiltration into the SBU……………………………………………………………………………………….7
A. The SBU’s historical ties to Russia, the KGB, and the FSB…………………………………………………7
B. President Zelenskyy purged the SBU of Russian collaborators after the SBU’s censorship
work with the FBI……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8
FBI Censorship Efforts on Behalf of and in Coordination with the SBU ………………………………….10
I. The FBI and SBU sent Meta massive spreadsheets containing thousands of accounts
to remove, including authentic American accounts………………………………………………………………10
II. The FBI offered Meta legal cover to remove the SBU’s flagged accounts …………………………..12
III. The FBI, on behalf of the SBU, requested the removal of a verified U.S.
State Department account and an American journalist………………………………………………………..13
IV. The FBI and SBU also sought the removal of Facebook and Instagram posts that
were supportive of Ukraine and critical of Russia, the invasion, and Vladimir Putin. ……………….15
V. Meta suggested establishing a “24/7 channel” to respond to the SBU’s requests………………..18
VI. The FBI facilitated the SBU’s censorship requests to Google and YouTube………………………19
VII. The FBI and SBU also tried to censor American journalists on Twitter ……………………………22
VIII. The FBI continued relaying the SBU’s requests even after the FBI was told it had
unconstitutionally flagged American accounts for removal …………………………………………………23
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..25
Click here to read the full report.
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