FBI Foreign Influence Task Force Chief Laura Dehmlow (pictured), who has ties to the Twitter decision to suppress the New York Post Hunter Biden laptop story, is still briefing social media sites on foreign disinformation threats, a new report reveals
An FBI official who contributed to shaping the decision of social media platforms to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story is still briefing Facebook and Twitter about foreign influence threats, according to a recent report.
Leaks to The Intercept and analysis of court filings reveal that FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force Chief Laura Dehmlow is still advising private companies, including social media websites, on threats related to subversive information.
Dehmlow and FBI San Francisco field office special agent Elvis Chan were named in a court filing last month as being involved in communications with Meta, Facebook’s parent company, which resulted in the suppression of the October 2020 New York Post story revealing the contents of President Joe Biden’s son’s hard drive for the first time.
The suppression decision despite the story being proven true does not appear to have affected Dehmlow’s job, as she is still in contact with private companies regarding disinformation.
Twitter insisted to the Intercept that it does not ‘coordinate with other entities when making content moderation decisions.’
‘[W]to independently evaluate content in line with the Twitter Rules,’ a spokesperson for Twitter told the outlet.
The lengthy Monday Intercept report reveals that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is still looking to control information online – even after being forced to dissolve its Disinformation Advisory Board just months after announcing its formation due to intense public backlash.
Despite the Biden administration earlier this year disbanding its controversial board, the documents suggest DHS has quietly maintained a shadow presence and an intense interest in policing speech it deems false or dangerous.
The report also found that Facebook has a special online portal for DHS and other government officials to request content moderation, and that the federal department plans to target ‘inaccurate information’ on a wide array of topics.
Dehmlow was the lead briefer during a meeting with executives, including from Twitter and JPMorgan, in March stressing ‘we need a media infrastructure that is held accountable’. Pictured: President Joe Biden (left) walks with his son Hunter (right) when leaving Church during a vacation to South Carolina in August
Twitter and Facebook suppressed or flagged the Post’s story about the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The story was later confirmed by many outlets, including DailyMail.com. Pictured: An image from Hunter’s abandoned laptop
During a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cybersecurity Advisory Committee on March 1, Dehmlow warned about the threat of foreign influence challenges and misinformation campaigns on social media sites, which she said could undermine support for the US government.
The meeting included senior executives from Twitter and JPMorgan and was to provide a briefing ‘regarding the FBI’s roles and responsibilities in combating foreign influence.’
Notes of the discussion stressed ‘we need a media infrastructure that is held accountable.’
Dehmlow was the main briefer.
‘Mrs. Dehmlow was asked to provide her thoughts or to define a goal for approaching MDM [misinformation and disinformation] and she mentioned ‘resiliency.’ She stated we need a media infrastructure that is held accountable; we need to educate the populace; and that today, critical thinking seems to be a problem,’ the leaked notes state.
Dehmlow and FBI San Francisco field office special agent Elvis Chan (pictured) were named in an October court filing for briefing Meta, Facebook’s parent company, which resulted in suppression of the October 2020 New York Post story on Hunter Biden’s laptop
The communication in 2020 that led to the Post’s story being concealed online was part of the federal government’s continued venture into controlling disinformation and also included Dehmlow’s FBI task force.
Both Twitter and Facebook either flagged the Hunter Biden laptop story as misinformation or suppressed the reach stories are usually able to obtain through sharing on social media.
The Republican Attorneys General of Missouri and Louisiana filed the lawsuit in early October.
It notes that Meta identified that Chan and the FBI section Dehmlow runs were involved in communications ‘that led to Facebook’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.’
Many Republicans claim that the suppression was a liberal effort to avert negative stories about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Some say it could have affected the outcome.
The Foreign Influence Task Force was established in 2017 by FBI Director Christopher Wray to ‘identify and counteract malignant foreign influence operations targeting the United States.’
It remains, even after the DHS Disinformation Advisory Board did not stand the test of time.
The now-defunct DHS board was supposed to be run by Russian disinformation ‘expert’ Nina Jankowics, but she stepped down before the board was dissolved.
Many compared the board to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’ and Republicans said it was an effort by the Biden White House and federal government to police free speech online.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas put the final nail in the coffin on the board in August following a botched rollout from which it could not recover.
The demise comes months after the woman tapped to head the board stepped down amid a flurry of GOP attacks claiming she wasn’t suited for the job due to her bias – specifically pointing to her calling the Hunter Biden laptop scandal a ‘Trump campaign product. ‘
Jankowicz resigned from the board just one month after its creation.
An expert advisory panel for the department, handpicked by the Biden administration, found in an interim recommendation report last month that there is ‘no need’ for the Disinformation Governance Board.
A little over a month after the recommendation, the DHS Advisory Council voted unanimously to adopt their report rejecting the need for the board to carry out the department’s mission. The board subsequently disbanded.
The Intercept report reveals DHS’ involvement in suppressing what it deems harmful or false information online even after the agency’s highly unpopular Disinformation Governance Board was disbanded in August. The head, Nina Jankowicz (pictured), resigned just one month after its creation and following a botched rollout that had lawmakers comparing the panel to the Orwellian Ministry of Truth
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