Secret reports show Homeland Security worked with universities to 'censor Americans' online speech' before 2020 election

The Department of Homeland Security, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the State Department all worked with American universities to stem what they viewed as disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election, a new report claims.

The Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, led by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), produced a document detailing a series of reports that claimed government entities worked in tandem with Stanford University and others to "censor Americans before the 2020 election, including true information, jokes, and opinions."

"The federal government, disinformation 'experts' at universities, Big Tech, and others worked together through the Election Integrity Partnership to monitor & censor Americans’ speech," Jordan wrote on his X account.

According to the House report, the Election Integrity Partnership was formed to "monitor and censor Americans’ online speech in advance of the 2020 presidential election." The group was reportedly created in the summer of 2020 "at the request" of CISA and allowed the federal government to bypass First Amendment restrictions by passing on oversight to the new "disinformation" experts.

"The federal government and universities pressured social media companies to censor true information, jokes, and political opinions," the report stated. The censorship was allegedly bipartisan, labeling social media posts by Republicans and conservatives as "misinformation."

According to writer Benjamin Weingarten, the evidence showed the "[Election Integrity Partnership] – sometimes alongside DHS sub-agency CISA – pressuring platforms to target speech that included statements by then-President Trump; opinions about election integrity rooted in government records and even think-tank white papers; and speculative tweets from statesmen and everyday citizens alike."

The report listed that the following politicians were censored: President Donald J. Trump, Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

In addition, pundits such as Charlie Kirk, Candace Owens, and BlazeTV host Dave Rubin were also reportedly censored. Journalists James O'Keefe, Tom Fitton, and Sean Hannity were as well.

Rep. Jordan provided examples of censored posts, which included President Trump linking to a 2020 Breitbart article titled "Georgia Counties Using Same Software as Michigan Counties also Encounter 'Glitch.'"

Another allegedly censored post, from Speaker Gingrich, included text stating, "Pennsylvania democrats are methodically changing the rules so they can steal the election."

The shocking report also included information from Stanford University that revealed the Election Integrity Partnership and staff made "explicit recommendations to social media platforms for specific enforcement measures" at least 75 times in a four-month period leading up to and during the 2020 election.

Examples of the requests included the following:

• “Hello Google. ... We recommend this ad be removed.”
• “Recommended actions: Ban sharing links to the following sites.”
• “This has circulated in pro-Trump conservative groups and sub-communities. ... We recommend that you all flag as false, or remove the posts below.”
• “This video narration claims to show evidence of voter fraud in Maryland, but the video itself (footage of an election worker) does not show anything that we interpret as voter fraud. We recommend that this video be removed or labeled.”
• “Hi Twitter team – there are a number of high-profile individuals, including the President, making accusations of voter fraud. ... Given the large audiences and Pennsylvania’s swing state status, we’d recommend this content be actioned.”