From Yahoo:
“The Postal Service is running
a 'covert operations program' that monitors Americans' social media posts”
The law enforcement arm of the
U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects
Americans’ social media posts, including those about planned protests,
according to a document obtained by Yahoo News. The details of the surveillance
effort, known as iCOP, or Internet Covert Operations Program, have not previously
been made public. The work involves having analysts trawl through social media
sites to look for what the document describes as “inflammatory” postings and
then sharing that information across government agencies. “Analysts with the
United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Internet Covert Operations
Program (iCOP) monitored significant activity regarding planned protests
occurring internationally and domestically on March 20, 2021,” says the March
16 government bulletin, marked as “law enforcement sensitive” and distributed
through the Department of Homeland Security’s fusion centers. “Locations and
times have been identified for these protests, which are being distributed
online across multiple social media platforms, to include right-wing leaning
Parler and Telegram accounts.”
A number of groups were expected
to gather in cities around the globe on March 20 as part of a World Wide Rally
for Freedom and Democracy, to protest everything from lockdown measures to 5G.
“Parler users have commented about their intent to use the rallies to engage in
violence. Image 3 on the right is a screenshot from Parler indicating two users
discussing the event as an opportunity to engage in a ‘fight’ and to ‘do
serious damage,’” says the bulletin. “No intelligence is available to suggest
the legitimacy of these threats,” it adds. The bulletin includes screenshots of
posts about the protests from Facebook, Parler, Telegram and other social media
sites. Individuals mentioned by name include one alleged Proud Boy and several
others whose identifying details were included but whose posts did not appear
to contain anything threatening. “iCOP analysts are currently monitoring these
social media channels for any potential threats stemming from the scheduled
protests and will disseminate intelligence updates as needed,” the bulletin
says.
The government’s monitoring of
Americans’ social media is the subject of ongoing debate inside and outside
government, particularly in recent months, following a rise in domestic unrest.
While posts on platforms such as Facebook and Parler have allowed law enforcement
to track down and arrest rioters who assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6, such data
collection has also sparked concerns about the government surveilling peaceful
protesters or those engaged in protected First Amendment activities. When
contacted by Yahoo News, civil liberties experts expressed alarm at the post
office’s surveillance program. “It’s a mystery,” said University of Chicago law
professor Geoffrey Stone, whom President Barack Obama appointed to review the
National Security Agency’s bulk data collection in the wake of the Edward
Snowden leaks. “I don’t understand why the government would go to the Postal
Service for examining the internet for security issues.”
The Postal Service has had a
turbulent year, facing financial insolvency and allegations that its head,
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by President Donald Trump,
was slowing down deliveries just as the pandemic vastly increased the number of
mail-in ballots for the 2020 election. Why the post office would now move into
social media surveillance, which would appear to have little to do with mail
deliveries, is unclear. “This seems a little bizarre,” agreed Rachel
Levinson-Waldman, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty
and national security program. “Based on the very minimal information that’s
available online, it appears that [iCOP] is meant to root out misuse of the
postal system by online actors, which doesn’t seem to encompass what’s going on
here. It’s not at all clear why their mandate would include monitoring of
social media that’s unrelated to use of the postal system.” Levinson-Waldman
also questioned the legal authority of the Postal Service to monitor social
media activity. “If the individuals they’re monitoring are carrying out or
planning criminal activity, that should be the purview of the FBI,” she said.
“If they’re simply engaging in lawfully protected speech, even if it’s odious
or objectionable, then monitoring them on that basis raises serious
constitutional concerns.”
The U.S. Postal Inspection
Service did not respond to specific questions sent by Yahoo News about iCOP,
but provided a general statement on its authorities. “The U.S. Postal
Inspection Service is the primary law enforcement, crime prevention, and security
arm of the U.S. Postal Service,” the statement said. “As such, the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service has federal law enforcement officers, Postal Inspectors, who
enforce approximately 200 federal laws to achieve the agency’s mission: protect
the U.S. Postal Service and its employees, infrastructure, and customers;
enforce the laws that defend the nation's mail system from illegal or dangerous
use; and ensure public trust in the mail.” “The Internet Covert Operations
Program is a function within the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which assesses
threats to Postal Service employees and its infrastructure by monitoring
publicly available open source information,” the statement said. “Additionally,
the Inspection Service collaborates with federal, state, and local law
enforcement agencies to proactively identify and assess potential threats to
the Postal Service, its employees and customers, and its overall mail
processing and transportation network. In order to preserve operational
effectiveness, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service does not discuss its
protocols, investigative methods, or tools.”
The Postal Service isn’t the only
part of government expanding its monitoring of social media. In a background
call with reporters last month, DHS officials spoke about that department’s
involvement in monitoring social media for domestic terrorism threats. “We know
that this threat is fueled mainly by false narratives, conspiracy theories and
extremist rhetoric read through social media and other online platforms,” one
of the officials said. “And that's why we're kicking off engagement directly
with social media companies.” DHS is coordinating with “civil rights and civil
liberties colleagues, as well as our private colleagues, to ensure that
everything we're doing is being done responsibly and in line with civil rights
and civil liberties and individual privacy,” the official added. Stone, the
University of Chicago professor, questioned why the post office would be tasked
with something like identifying violent protests two months after the Jan. 6
attack, which would appear to have little or nothing to do with the post
office’s role in delivering mail. “I just don’t think the Postal Service has
the degree of sophistication that you would want if you were dealing with
national security issues of this sort,” he said. “That part is puzzling,” he
added. “There are so many other federal agencies that could do this, I don’t
understand why the post office would be doing it. There is no need for the post
office to do it — you’ve got FBI, Homeland Security and so on, so I don’t know
why the post office is doing this.”
^ Maybe if the USPS focused on
delivering the mail instead of spying on Americans the mail would be delivered
in a timely and professional way. ^
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