Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
A new whistleblower document shows that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is targeting ‘disinformation’ and ‘misinformation’ as election crimes this year, hinting that the Biden administration learned nothing from the disastrous and short-lived Disinformation Governance Board.
The FBI ‘social media analysis cheat sheet’ was publicly shared on Thursday by Project Veritas, after receiving it from a whistleblower. The document advises agents that ‘disinformation’ and ‘misinformation’ are both possible election-related crimes.
According to the document, disinformation is “false or inaccurate information intended to mislead others” by confusing, tricking, or upsetting the public.
Meanwhile, misinformation is “false or misleading information spread mistakenly or unintentionally.”
BREAKING: From Project Veritas! FBI Whistleblower Leaks Document Showing Agency Targeting ‘Misinformation’ Under ‘Election Crimes’ Ahead of 2022 Midterm Elections!! pic.twitter.com/AXezUKLPzb
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) October 27, 2022
The inclusion of these possible crimes hints that nobody at the FBI took very good notes on the public fall-out from the announcement of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) short-lived Disinformation Governance Board.
Announced in April, the disinformation board’s purpose and powers were never fully explained. Both GOP politicians and the public rejected the idea that the government could somehow preserve free speech while engaging in censorship of ideas labeled as disinformation or misinformation.
Because of the backlash, Mayorkas paused the board on May 19. It was then permanently disbanded by Homeland Security on Aug. 24.
The FBI did urge agents to consider the 1st and 4th amendments – free speech and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures without prior cause – when charging crimes this election cycle.
While intentional misinformation about candidates on social media is an election security threat and a favored interference tactic from Russia, China, and other U.S. enemies, the problem remains that advocating for a crackdown on this as an election crime creates the potential for weaponization to help the controlling party maintain its power.
This follows after whistleblowers have already described the FBI as being ‘weaponized.’ Meanwhile, in the past three years, overall public trust in the FBI has eroded 13 points to rest at only 44% according to Statista.
Democrats are also already on record for using claims of “misinformation” to suppress important information in the public sphere.
The story of Hunter Biden’s laptop is an obvious example after it was initially labeled “misinformation” and “Russian propaganda” by key officials to discredit a scandal that would decrease President Joe Biden’s chances of election.
Facebook and other social media helped crack down on the story’s reach, preventing it from gaining significant traction. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said in a Joe Rogan interview that this was done at the FBI’s request, showing that a crackdown on government-labeled “misinformation” can become a powerful tool.
In March of this year, New York Times finally admitted that the laptop story and the younger Biden’s shady business dealings revealed within it were authentic. Other evidence shows that the president also had some knowledge of his son’s foreign business exchanges, despite saying on the campaign trail that he did not speak to his son about his business dealings.
The laptop story is only one example currently pointed to by the Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general in their accusation of government collusion with Big Tech companies to influence what the public sees or believes on social media. Dr. Anthony Fauci was ordered to testify to find out if he incited social media to crack down on the Wuhan Lab Leak theory to preserve his own reputation.
This theory of COVI-19’s origin was also initially discredited as “misinformation” by Fauci and other government officials. However, the FBI later said that it was most likely true. Fauci directed funds into the lab for “gain-of-function” research before the pandemic began, meaning that he might bear some responsibility for the millions of lives lost if the Wuhan leak proves true.
Thursday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee minority oversight staff released an interim report indicating that evidence supports the theory that the COVID-19 virus outbreak was the direct result of a leak at a taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research lab in Wuhan, China.
The World Health Organization is currently investigating this theory, though China is resisting.