Judicial Watch, a watchdog group, is suing the Department of Homeland Security. The FOIA request for information about misinformation and censorship and agency involvement in communications between the Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency, (CISA), which is part of DHS and the Election Integrity Partnership, (EIP), and the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public and Stanford University’s Internet Observatory is at issue.
According to Just the News, the EIP was established in 2020 by the Stanford Internet Observatory and the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public. It also includes the social media analytics company Graphika and the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. The EIP worked closely with federal agencies to identify social media posts and stories that were misinformation or disinformation. The EIP created a “ticket” to request that various tech platforms flag the story or post and then remove it.
Following a Lee Fang investigative journalist report that revealed that Facebook had met with DHS regularly to discuss censoring content, the FOIA request was filed and the suit filed. Judicial Watch needed more information. CISA has not made any.
According to the suit, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request with CISA on October 5, 2022. CISA is part of DHS. Judicial Watch requested access to CISA records of communications between its employees and any other EIP members. This includes communication about tickets related to election disinformation via social media platforms. Judicial Watch also requests records and documents relating to the July meeting between DHS, and EIP. The suit also seeks communication records from CISA and the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, as well as any associated groups, regarding EIP, the 2020 elections, and any social media platforms.
Judicial Watch asserts that CISA has not acknowledged the request, despite online records showing that the request was received and assigned a reference number. The group claims that CISA has not informed it whether CISA has decided or not to comply with the request. Judicial Watch also claims that CISA has not updated Judicial Watch on the status of the request or whether the group can appeal. In. Judicial Watch demands that CISA prove that it has obtained the requested information and provided it to the court as requested.
We already know that Big Tech and Big Government conspired to control information during the 2020 elections. They feel the need not to disclose the details of this collusion, which is a sign that they don’t care.
