Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg renewed the controversy in a recent letter to a congressional committee, alleging that Facebook was “pressured” by the Biden administration to censor COVID-related content. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images/TNS)
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) — The U.S. Justice Department won’t pressure social media companies to remove or block content when the government shares information about foreign threats to national security or elections, after claims that platforms were previously coerced.
The department unveiled policy principles Tuesday on how national security officials will engage with social media companies while protecting constitutional rights, especially heading into this year’s presidential election.
The department also launched a website explaining how officials will ensure that First Amendment rights are protected while exposing foreign threats on the platforms.
U.S. government agencies have been accused of abusing their powers and violating free speech when engaging with companies about efforts by foreign adversaries to spread misinformation and stoke political turmoil.
Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg renewed the controversy in a recent letter to a congressional committee, alleging that Facebook was “pressured” by the Biden administration to censor COVID-related content and saying that he regrets the company’s decision to agree to the demands. “The government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” he wrote.
A primary goal of foreign actors “is to sow discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions and values — including through covertly influencing and manipulating our elections,” according to a new Justice Department document posted online. The actors “are conducting their operations in large part through the misuse of online social media platforms,” including those that are unaware of the activity, according to the document.
One of the fundamental rules that Justice and FBI officials will follow is leaving it solely up to such platforms as Facebook, X and YouTube to decide what to do with the shared information, such as whether to block users or remove any content, according to the department. They also won’t retaliate against the companies for taking action or not acting, the department said.
“Our focus is on disrupting the foreign actors behind the accounts and exposing their hidden hand,” according to the document.
U.S. agencies were accused of unconstitutionally coercing platforms into taking down posts in the past, including about the pandemic, the 2020 election and a laptop belonging to President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. The criticism has been primarily driven by conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, who is now the Republican nominee for president.
Several states led by Missouri and Louisiana also sued the U.S. government over what they called a “sprawling federal Censorship Enterprise” involving dozens of officials and at least 11 federal agencies. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June the states didn’t have legal standing to press their lawsuit, overturning court-imposed restrictions on contacts between the FBI, other agencies and the social media companies.
The FBI is now ramping up meetings with social media companies about what it calls “foreign malign influence” operations. The guidelines released Tuesday summarize the policy and controls the Justice Department and FBI will follow when interacting with the companies.
The department revised its policy for social media interactions earlier this year following the intense criticism and the lawsuit by the states, according to a July report by the agency’s inspector general.
The department’s strategy has two prongs: real-time intelligence sharing about particular social media accounts or activity related to foreign threats, and in-person voluntary meetings with the companies to answer their questions and receive information back from them if they chose to provide it.
The department also has launched a website with links to information and resources that is intended to provide public transparency about its strategy for engaging with social media companies while protecting First Amendment rights.
The new policy requires FBI employees to identify “specific, credible, and articulable facts” in reports provided to the companies supporting “a high-confidence” assessment that the information relates to a foreign malign influence threat, the department said.
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