The House Judiciary Committee has issued subpoenas to Biden administration officials running an artificial intelligence research program to combat online “misinformation.” This would also help social media giants censor Americans’ free speech.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a Tuesday letter obtained exclusively by the Post that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has given the controversial research program “a top priority.” “We have not produced any documents,” he said, adding that he had not responded to nearly all voluntary requests. one year.
The subpoena requires NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan to provide all internal records discussing suppressing or restricting online content (censored posts based on emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop in October 2020). (including any possible documentation relating to the reporting).
Other moderated content may include views on the origins of COVID-19, vaccine effectiveness, and other pandemic-era concerns. Foreign and domestic election interference. “Twitter Files” and censorship of journalists. transgender issues. Abortion; Climate Change; Guns. and “the use of financial services and systems to advance political or social objectives.”
“Congress needs to assess the extent to which NSF officials have coerced, pressured, cooperated with, or relied on social media, other tech companies, and third parties to censor speech,” Jordan told Panchanathan. ” he said.
“Additionally, the committee found documentation showing that NSF staff regularly interacted and communicated with organizations receiving NSF funding, including projects focused on combating online misinformation.” NSF has not yet produced records related to these communications or other meetings.”
Pursuant to the subpoena, Mr. Panchanathan must appear before the committee at 9 a.m. on February 28 and provide requested documents and correspondence regarding the program.
Jordan and like-minded lawmakers argue that AI could be used to limit the scope of critical journalism and other First Amendment activities on YouTube, Reddit, Facebook and other platforms. I am particularly concerned about gender.
It is unclear whether tools created as part of this program have been adopted by social media companies or government agencies.
on tuesday staff report, the Special Subcommittee on Federal Weaponization found that under an NSF program known as “Track F,” the federal government identified “misinformation” and “educational and training materials for” people. It has been revealed that more than $39 million in grants have been poured into the creation of “. Vulnerability to disinformation techniques. ”
Researchers from three elite universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Michigan, along with the San Francisco-based technology nonprofit Meadan, will produce 1,300 Received a $1 million grant. ”
The subcommittee released emails from some researchers who expressed particular concern that conservatives and veterans are more likely to be fooled by “misinformation” and “disinformation” on the Internet.
While some of the program’s tools could help remove harmful or illegal content, such as deepfake photos and child pornography, the Republican report also found that “a wide swath of the public” is “incapable of distinguishing the truth.” It also quotes an MIT researcher who expressed concern about this. Online fiction. ”
The researchers found that people who read “the Bible and the Constitution” are not well-informed about the issues and “don’t trust both journalists and academics,” so they “don’t know how news organizations deliver the news.” He pointed out that there is a high possibility that the report will confirm the facts.
University of Wisconsin researchers also wrote, “We specifically focus on skepticism about the integrity of U.S. elections and hesitancy related to COVID-19 vaccines.”
At the University of Michigan, yet another researcher argued that the federal government, rather than social media companies, should ultimately be allowed to make decisions about content “moderation.”
“By externalizing the difficult responsibility of censorship, our misinformation service assists platform policymakers who seek to externalize responsibility for…difficult decisions,” the researchers wrote in a statement to NSF. stated in the pitch document.
Researchers at the University of Washington also sent a letter to NSF officials, describing attempts to suppress disinformation as “inherently political” actions that amount to “censorship.”
The Jordanian commission has gathered other evidence that the federal government under both the administrations of former Presidents Donald Trump and Biden colluded with big tech platforms to suppress the speech of Americans.
A lower federal court ruling last year found that agencies such as the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the FBI also “likely forced or significantly encouraged the use of social media, which violates the First Amendment rights of the U.S. Constitution.” There is a possibility that this may be in violation of the law.” A platform for managing content. ”
The Biden administration then appealed the Missouri v. Biden decision to the Supreme Court.
The Post has reached out to Panchanathan for comment.
