On Monday the Department of Homeland Security issued an updated National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin, which purports to summarize the “Terrorism Threat to the U.S. Homeland”. It begins with a paragraph that, read carefully, should chill the blood of anyone who cherishes liberty:
The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors. These threat actors seek to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence. Mass casualty attacks and other acts of targeted violence conducted by lone offenders and small groups acting in furtherance of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances pose an ongoing threat to the nation. While the conditions underlying the heightened threat landscape have not significantly changed over the last year, the convergence of the following factors has increased the volatility, unpredictability, and complexity of the threat environment: (1) the proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions; (2) continued calls for violence directed at U.S. critical infrastructure; soft targets and mass gatherings; faith-based institutions, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques; institutions of higher education; racial and religious minorities; government facilities and personnel, including law enforcement and the military; the media; and perceived ideological opponents; and (3) calls by foreign terrorist organizations for attacks on the United States based on recent events. [emphasis added]
Vigilance against real terrorist activities is, of course, justified, but the DHS sounds less interested in uncovering plots than in combating what one might call the “root causes” of violence, which are equated with erroneous opinions. One of the entries under “How We Are Responding” is –
DHS is working with public and private sector partners, as well as foreign counterparts, to identify and evaluate MDM, including false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories spread on social media and other online platforms that endorse or could inspire violence.
Let us cast our minds back in time. “During and eighteen-month period in 1971 and 1972, the FBI reported more than 2,500 bombings on U.S. soil, nearly 5 a day.” [Bryan Burrough, Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence, p. 5] It was a period when “acts of violence” referred to something more serious than bumptious conduct at school board meetings, yet the public – liberals in particular – would have reacted with alarm and outrage if government law enforcers had devoted their attention to identifying and, by implication, suppressing “false and misleading narratives and conspiracy theories”.
David Harsanyi puts it well:
It is, of course, the constitutional right of every American to undermine public to trust in the U.S. government. Oftentimes, it is well deserved. Even if it’s not, a person is free to misinform or theorize or simply spread outright insane notions about the world for kicks. . . . Speech that’s been labeled “misleading” or “false” or “fake” is often just political speech that has fallen into disfavor with those in power. And neither Kirstjen Nielsen nor Alejandro Mayorkas nor whoever comes next in DHS leadership has any business deciding what constitutes fact or fiction.
On a purely practical level, hunting for heresies that infect the public square is a wasteful misuse of DHS’s far from unlimited resources. “Mis- dis- and mal-information” abounds, but stamping out the current MDM wouldn’t produce domestic harmony. Men don’t become terrorists because they believe falsehoods; they believe falsehoods because they are prone, for psychological or ideological reasons, to become terrorists. To the extent that they need a “narrative” to rationalize their actions, they will find or invent it.
Also on a practical level, the anti-MDM tools available to the Department of Homeland Security aren’t ones that government agencies ought to be wielding. “Identify[ing] and evaluat[ing] MDM” puts the Department into the “fact checking” business. A “fact checker” armed with investigative and prosecutorial powers is an ominous beast. Even one that limited itself to propagandizing for the “correct narratives” – and nothing in the DHS bulletin suggests that it will content itself with a war of ideas – would be reminiscent of regimes that are far removed from America’s constitutional order.
Further Reading: Roger Severino has gone through the DHS screed more thoroughly than I did. The more one delves into it, the worse it looks:
Note that the DHS is not here talking about speech actually coordinating or inciting violent terrorist actions. Such conduct is clearly criminal and is discussed elsewhere in the bulletin. Rather, the DHS makes clear that purely lawful speech and opinion is now the number one contributor to the current threat environment and cites “misleading narratives” regarding Covid-19 as a leading example of this terroristic threat.
The DHS defines Covid “misinformation” as being “false, but not created or shared with the intention of causing harm,” and defines Covid “malinformation” as being “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.” Under these definitions, you can be guilty of contributing to terrorism without any bad intent or by disseminating known Covid facts if you omit what the DHS considers proper context. . . .
The bulletin additionally directs us to resources “to stay safe” including on how to “recognize and build resilience to false or misleading narratives.” For example, we are to “[t]ake care when viewing or sharing content that uses sensational terms to divide us in a time of crisis” and must be “especially careful of content that attempts to make people angry or sad or create division.” . . . The DHS also recommends a comprehensive guide for parents and caregivers, titled “Building Resilience and Confronting Risk in the COVID-19 Era” co-written by the hyper-partisan Southern Poverty Law Center. This DHS-endorsed resource includes advice such as “help children develop an understanding and appreciation for gender beyond the binary of boys and girls,” and “don’t stay silent about the history and ongoing injustices of white supremacy and male supremacy,” and conveniently provides links to local Black Lives Matter chapters. . . .
Rational people will still wonder how Covid information — even if false, outdated, or taken out of context – has anything remotely to do with terrorism. But to the DHS, the answer is blazingly clear: “Malignant actors [are] seeking to interfere with and undermine our democratic institutions and national cohesiveness,” duh. “COVID-19-related MDM activities seek to undermine public confidence and sow confusion,” of course. “Creating or spreading this type of online content can undermine public confidence in our system of government and its institutions,” obviously. Also “every individual plays an important role in recognizing and building resilience to [these] false and harmful narratives,” like that even needed to be said – what are you, a terrorist sympathizer?
Perhaps it is time to resurrect the House Un-American Activities Committee to uncover and root out every last unpatriotic Covid-misinformation terrorist and their fellow travelers out there in fly-over country.
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