State attorneys general are calling for the release of more documents to further solidify the case that the government worked with Big Tech to censor Americans.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry requested the Western District of Louisiana court on Jan.19 to release documents from five Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) employees to illustrate how the government colluded with leftist social media platforms on their bloated censorship operations. Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee, granted the request on Jan.25.
The request came after Landry released the deposition of CISA election security agent Brian Skully on Jan.19. In the testimony, Skully confessed that in 2020 that CISA, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), “did some switchboard work on behalf of election officials.”
Skully stated that “switchboard work” consisted of responding to an audit official identifying something on social media that was believed to be “disinformation aimed at their jurisdiction.” Once notified, Skully said that the tip could be forwarded from CISA to the relevant social media companies.
Skully claimed that the purpose behind his team’s work was to create so-called awareness of “potential disinformation” on social media platforms with the understanding that those platforms could then decide the fate of the content according to their policies. He added that CISA forwarded information from election officials and state/local officials to social media platforms. He even claimed that CISA educated social media platforms on “how elections actually function,” which included identifying “potential threats to the election administration.”
Skully identified five CISA employees who played a part in the switchboarding operation.
Based on the deposition, Landry and Bailey requested that the court release communication from CISA employees: Chad Josiah, Rob Schaul, Alex Zaheer, John Stafford and alleged intern Pierce Lowary. Though CISA claimed that the information was outdated and irrelevant to the case, Judge Doughty wrote in his Memorandum Order that, “(the) issue remains to be seen. Plaintiffs should not have to rely on Federal Defendants’ representations. Plaintiffs have the right to obtain the information to make that determination for themselves.”
Scully claimed that CISA stopped switchboarding in 2022, but according to his testimony, CISA and other federal agencies continued to communicate with social media companies on a regular basis.
The fight for free speech only seems to be intensifying. Bailey stated that he has uncovered a “vast censorship enterprise” between the federal government and Big Tech that dates back to the 2020 elections and COVID-19 public policy. The case cited original research from MRC Free Speech America’s CensorTrack.org database to provide more evidence. But Bailey is not the only one vying to hold the government accountable for stifling online free speech. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has also vowed to investigate the government-Big Tech “joint attack” on American free speech.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the CensorTrack contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
