Login
House Judiciary Committee Sues FBI Agent Who Flouted Subpoena Over Social Media Censorship Probe
The House Judiciary Committee sued FBI agent Elvis Chan on Tuesday for flouting a subpoena to answer questions about the federal government’s alleged collusion with social media companies to censor online speech.
“Chan has violated and continues to violate his legal obligations by refusing to appear before the Judiciary Committee as required by the Subpoena, and by refusing to answer questions when there has been no assertion of privilege by the Executive Branch,” attorneys for the House’s Office of General Counsel wrote in a 46-page complaint filed in Washington, DC, federal district court.
Entered on behalf of panel chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the suit says that the bureau agent is a “pivotal figure” in its probe of federal agencies’ efforts to censor or suppress protected speech — especially his firsthand knowledge of The Post’s bombshell 2020 election stories based on emails obtained from Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Chan also was a key witness in the federal court case Missouri v. Biden, which will be taken up by the Supreme Court later this year, and in a deposition claimed he had “no internal knowledge” of The Post’s suppression. Jordan’s committee said in September 2023 that it had “uncovered evidence” that Chan gave contradictory testimony as a part of that case regarding his “communications with social media platforms.”
That investigation includes rooting out the federal agencies responsible under both President Donald Trump and President Biden for “moderating” American’s online speech — including posts about the origins of COVID-19 and vaccinations.
America First Legal Challenges Arizona Agencies’ Social Media Censorship in Defense of Free Speech
As part of a bold move to safeguard free speech and uphold constitutional values, America First Legal (AFL) has initiated a series of public records requests aimed at unearthing the extent of Arizona government agencies’ involvement in controlling social media narratives.
The issue at hand revolves around recent elections, where federal and state entities, notably from Arizona, have actively engaged in monitoring and reporting what they classify as “misinformation.”
Coordinated by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing & Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) acted as a conduit, forwarding these censorship requests to various social media platforms. Additionally, state and local government officials in Arizona have independently reported supposed misinformation directly to these platforms.
This has led to a situation where government officials have been accused of effectively coercing and pressuring social media companies into censoring content and speakers that they deem unfavorable, potentially influencing the outcomes of Arizona’s recent elections.
Yellen Dodges on Whether Treasury Department Moved to Surveil Americans’ Legal Purchases
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sidestepped questions about whether her department ordered surveillance of consumer purchases and transactions.
Yellen was asked Tuesday during a hearing whether the Treasury Department instructed financial institutions to monitor legal purchases for signs of “extremism,” as claimed in a House Judiciary Committee letter last month.
“Has Treasury — including FinCEN or federal banking agencies like the Fed, FDIC, OCC — instructed financial institutions to search Americans’ legal transactions in attempts to surveil their purchases?” Republican Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner asked Yellen.
“Well, we received the letter from you, I believe, on this topic, and we intend to investigate and respond,” Yellen responded.
Is Big Tech Regulation Finally Coming?
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee took the CEOs of Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord to task on child safety. And it was a tense discussion. Senators verbally flogged each tech executive. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) started off by describing social media services as “dangerous products” that are “destroying lives” and “threatening democracy itself.”
Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that these platforms subject children to “sextortion” — a practice in which predators trick children into sending sexually explicit pictures of themselves. This all confirms what we already knew — tech’s self-regulation schemes don’t work. Why? Well, as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) bluntly put it, the “platforms really suck at policing themselves.”
Just look at their track record. The Wall Street Journal found that pedophiles are using Instagram to solicit sex from minors; the platform may have even promoted that content and connected kids to pedophiles through various hashtags. Kids are overdosing from drugs they obtained over Snapchat.
But here’s the thing — the tides are turning. This hearing demonstrated that. First, it showed the bipartisanship on this issue is stronger than ever before. Better yet, Congress has proposed promising bipartisan bills directed at protecting children online.
EMS Vaccine Mandate Case Makes Way to State Supreme Court
A case disputing the mandate requiring COVID and influenza vaccines for Maine Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) employees was heard by the state’s Supreme Court Tuesday in Augusta. Plaintiff Chris Calnan and others first fought the mandate against MEMS in July but it was dismissed.
Calnan et. al question the authority MEMS has to require the vaccines. Original court texts say that emergency medical service workers were excluded from the Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate of vaccinations for healthcare workers. However, it was on MEMS’ own accord to implement a required vaccination for COVID-19 and the flu.
His attorney Terry Mitrenga said Tuesday the court failed to determine if MEMS made any procedural wrongdoings when implementing the mandate and said the vaccine rule goes against the purposes of the Emergency Medical Services Act.
The justices will issue an official written decision at a later date.
U.S. Agency to Hire 50 AI Experts to Crack Down on Drugs, Child Abuse
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to hire 50 artificial intelligence experts this year to help it halt child abuse, counter fentanyl production and assess damage from natural disasters, as it seeks to increase use of the burgeoning technology.
“Government needs the support and expertise of our country’s foremost AI experts to help ensure our continued ability to harness this technology responsibly, safeguard against its malicious use, and advance our critical homeland security mission,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
The agency did not provide specifics on what the experts will do but noted that they would provide expertise in cybersecurity, data science and software engineering.
The plan is part of the Biden administration’s nascent efforts to harness the potential benefits of AI while reining in the biggest threats it poses, where Europe has made much more significant progress.
OpenAI’s New Watermark Will Make Our Fake Image Problems Worse
OpenAI announced it’s adding watermarks to images generated by its AI tools Tuesday, an effort to combat growing fears over the coming deepfake tsunami. Images spun up with DALL-E and other OpenAI services will include a visual watermark and other details about its origin in the metadata — information encoded in the generated file.
Here’s the problem: all you have to do to remove the metadata watermark is take a screenshot. That means OpenAI’s “solution” could leave you more confused, not less, once it goes into effect.
OpenAI itself explains that people might even remove the watermark by accident. When you upload an image to social media, most platforms automatically remove metadata from the file because it can sometimes reveal a user’s personal information. So when you post one of your AI creations on Instagram, you might unwittingly cause a fake image fiasco.
Top U.S. Venture Capitalists Invest Billions in Chinese Tech — at the Expense of American National Security
Nearly half of the most powerful players in venture capital are quietly investing billions in Chinese tech startups rather than their U.S. competitors — taking in massive returns at the expense of American national security.
In an explosive report reviewed exclusively by The Post, San Francisco-based nonprofit Future Union reveals that at least 46 of the top 100 venture capital investors on Forbes’ 2023 Midas List have directly identifiable connections to China, helping Beijing beat Silicon Valley in the race for the next big tech breakthrough.
