The FBI was enlisted by the Security Service of Ukraine soon after the Russian invasion to demand social media platforms take down posts and block accounts such as those belonging to American journalists, according to House Judiciary Committee investigators.
It is now suspected that Russian agents had infiltrated the Ukrainian intelligence agency, known by the acronym SBU, potentially manipulating the FBI’s attempts to censor the journalists and at least one State Department official.
The FBI also vouched for removing social media posts that were pro-Ukraine or critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the report.
“Given that the SBU was compromised by a network of Russian collaborators, sympathizers and double agents at the time of its interactions with the FBI, the FBI’s uncritical cooperation with the SBU’s requests is deeply concerning,” said the report by panel’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
“The inclusion of American accounts on the SBU’s lists indicates that the FBI either did not properly vet the SBU’s requests or was aware of their domestic nature, and nonetheless carried them out. In so doing, the FBI violated the First Amendment rights of Americans and potentially undermined our national security,” the report said.
Five months after the February 2022 Russian invasion, in July 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the head of the SBU because the intelligence agency had been compromised by Russian spies.
SEE ALSO: FBI Director Wray defends search of Mar-a-Lago: ‘Not a raid’
The FBI declined to comment for this article.
The double-whammy for the FBI — engaging in social media censorship and getting duped into doing it for a foreign adversary — only adds to the woes at America’s premier law enforcement agency. The FBI has been battered by whistleblowers and other critics who say the bureau suffers from mismanagement and biased leadership and has conducted a string of politically motivated investigations targeting conservatives.
The FBI also played a role in the Biden administration’s pressuring of social media companies to censor Americans’ speech. The censorship, as alleged in a lawsuit against the government, prompted a federal judge last week to slap a temporary injunction banning Biden officials from contacting social media companies about online content.
As part of the Judiciary subcommittee’s investigation into government censorship, the panel issued a subpoena on Feb. 15 for documents from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube.
The documents obtained in response to the subpoenas revealed that the FBI, on behalf of the Ukrainian intelligence agency, requested and in some cases directed the world’s largest social media platforms to censor Americans’ speech online.
According to the report, after the invasion, the SBU asked the FBI to help identify and disrupt Russian influence operations on social media. The SBU gave the FBI lists of social media accounts that allegedly spread Russian disinformation. But, according to the committee’s investigators, the list targeted U.S. officials and U.S. journalists.
“The Committee’s analysis of these ‘disinformation’ registries revealed that the FBI, at the request of the SBU, flagged for social media companies the authentic accounts of Americans, including a verified U.S. State Department account and those belonging to American journalists,” the report said.
It said the FBI and SBU “repeatedly” requested the removal or suspension of authentic accounts expressing unambiguously pro-Ukrainian views and those voicing opposition to Mr. Putin.
“At times, the FBI would even follow up with the relevant platform to ensure that ‘these accounts were taken down,’” the report said. “Regardless of its intended purpose in endorsing the SBU’s requests, the FBI had no legal justification for facilitating the censorship of Americans’ protected speech on social media.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.