The Biden government is deploying taxpayer-funded comic books to combat what it considers ‘disinformation’ ahead of the 2024 presidential election in November. Produced by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the comic books are intended to educate voters on how foreign governments try to influence U.S. elections. Backed by CISA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the government-produced comic books also raise civil liberties concerns as they position the government agency as the final determinant of ‘truth.’
Several lawmakers on Capitol Hill have criticized the DHS program. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) called the comic books another avenue for the government to “trample on the First Amendment” and label any dissident as ‘disinformation.’ Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) joked earlier this year, “D.C. Comics won’t be adding these taxpayer-funded comic books… to their repertoire anytime soon.”
The CISA-produced “Resilience Series” comic books have gone relatively unnoticed by the American Public. On X (formerly Twitter), the CISA page hosting the com books has been linked less than a dozen times. Furthermore, two high-production videos promoting the comic books on YouTube have only pulled 4,000 and 6,000 views.
Former FBI agent Clint Watts — who now works as a contributor to MSNBC — wrote the comic book series along with his co-author, Farid Haque. Haque, the CEO of London-based Erly Stage Studios, previously served as the head of former British Prime Minister David Cameron’s StartUp Britain campaign.
show less
The Biden government is deploying taxpayer-funded comic books to combat what it considers ‘disinformation’ ahead of the 2024 presidential election in November. Produced by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the comic books are intended to educate voters on how foreign governments try to influence U.S. elections. Backed by CISA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the government-produced comic books also raise civil liberties concerns as they position the government agency as the final determinant of ‘truth.’
show more
The First Amendment is a vulnerability that opens the United States to an onslaught of ‘disinformation,’ MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade has argued. Promoting her new book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, McQuade was questioned by Rachel Maddow regarding the susceptibility of the United States to so-called ‘disinformation‘ relative to other nations.
McQuade said the legal right to free speech in the U.S. posed a potential threat to the country’s democracy. “Actually, Rachel, I think we’re more susceptible to it than other countries, and that’s because some of our greatest strengths can also be our Achilles heel,” McQuade said.
The former U.S. Attorney, appointed by Barack Obama, claimed there were nuances when considering free speech and its ‘unintended consequences.‘ She explained that despite the cherished nature of free speech and its importance in democracy, the reflexive reaction to any attempts at regulation is dismissed as censorship, thereby contributing to America’s vulnerability. McQuade also referenced the Supreme Court’s stance that permits limitations on fundamental rights, including free speech, under specific conditions deemed important by the government.
Furthermore, McQuade voiced her belief that the U.S. needs more constructive conversations and practical solutions to combat the issue of ‘disinformation.’ She expressed concern over the rampant use of political labels and the retreat to positional ‘extremes’ when discussing censorship and limiting First Amendment rights. In addition to her media roles, McQuade is a law professor at the University of Michigan.
show less
The First Amendment is a vulnerability that opens the United States to an onslaught of 'disinformation,' MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade has argued. Promoting her new book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, McQuade was questioned by Rachel Maddow regarding the susceptibility of the United States to so-called 'disinformation' relative to other nations.
show more
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced Tuesday plans to trace individuals who donate to so-called “right-wing extremists” and establish an “early recognition system” to detect so-called “disinformation campaigns.”
The new measures include a law to allow the monitoring of financing to so-called extremist groups, a ban on so-called “far-right extremists” from owning weapons, a general ban on semi-automatic weapons, easier dismissal of public servants who are “far-right,” and a detection system for alleged bots that “attempt to manipulate the free formation of opinions.”
“We want to use all the instruments of the rule of law to protect our democracy,” Faeser said in an official statement. “We want to break up extreme right networks and take away their income streams and their weapons,” she said, adding: “No one who donates to a right-wing extremist organization should be able to rely on remaining undiscovered.”
Faeser further claimed that: “German right-wing extremists and foreign autocrats have one thing in common: They want to stoke rage and divide, above all through disinformation.”
The announcement comes as the German nationalist populist party AfD (Alternative for Germany) continues to surge in the polls. Last year, it was reported that a third of Europeans are voting for populist parties, and right-wing populist parties are predicted to sweep the 2024 European elections.
show less
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced Tuesday plans to trace individuals who donate to so-called "right-wing extremists" and establish an "early recognition system" to detect so-called "disinformation campaigns."
show more
United States federal government agencies co-ordinated with so-called “disinformation” experts at Stanford University to actively monitor and censor the speech of conservative writers and commentators in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, according to an interim staff report from the House Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, published on Monday evening.
The report reveals the federal government “effectively outsourced” mass online censorship to the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), led by academics at the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO), which pressured social media companies into labeling truthful information, political opinions, and even jokes as “misinformation.”
The EIP, established in the summer of 2020 at the request of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), operated in tandem with the Department of Homeland Security and the Global Engagement Center, a multi-agency entity within the State Department, to allow the federal government to censor information while bypassing public scrutiny and the First Amendment.
Federal agencies and organizations funded by the U.S. government submitted “misinformation reports” directly to the EIP, who would then contact major social media platforms, such as Twitter (now known as ‘X’), YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and Facebook, with recommendations as to how posts should be dealt with. This included reducing the information’s “discoverability,” temporarily suspending accounts, monitoring particular accounts, as well as removing posts.
The taxpayer-funded federal agencies were quick to justify their actions, arguing they have a responsibility to combat potential interference in American elections by hostile foreign actors.
However, the EIP disproportionately targeted conservatives. Vast quantities of truthful information posted by those on the right was marked as disinformation while “false information posted by Democrats and liberals was largely unreported and untouched by the censors.” Those actively censored included Jack Posobiec, Charlie Kirk, Benny Johnson, and even former President Donald Trump, among a large number of others.
“The pseudoscience of disinformation is now — and has always been — nothing more than a political ruse most frequently targeted at communities and individuals holding views contrary to the prevailing narratives,” the report argues. Yet, the unjust surveillance of conservatives by the federal government or agencies thereof is not merely limited to 2020 as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has begun weaponizing its resources to target supporters of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement in the run-up to November 2024.
show less
United States federal government agencies co-ordinated with so-called "disinformation" experts at Stanford University to actively monitor and censor the speech of conservative writers and commentators in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, according to an interim staff report from the House Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, published on Monday evening.
show more
Editor’s Notes
Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.
FacebookTwitterWhatsappTruthTelegramGettrCopy Link
Real News Fan? Show It!
Many people are shocked to learn that because of active censorship, we currently have to spend more time making sure you can even see The National Pulse, than on producing the news itself. Which sucks. Because we do this for the truth, and for you.
But the regime doesn’t want you being informed. That’s why they want us to go away. And that will happen if more people don’t sign up to support our work. It’s basic supply and demand. So demand you get to read The National Pulse, unrestricted. Sign up, today.
We don’t sell ads, and refuse corporate or political cash. It all comes down to you, the reader. I hope you can help.
