Tag: Electronic Frontier Foundation
COINTELPRO 2.0: Project Esther, EO 14243, and Palantir
The pattern is familiar, and the escalation is predictable. I warned about this recently, and now it’s unfolding exactly as anticipated.
From my May 22 post:
Just as I anticipated, the blame is being directed at China. Marco Rubio, currently serving in the Trump administration, has previously targeted various leftist organizations for their funding connections to Neville Roy Singham, who has been accused of having ties to the Communist Party of China. These allegations originated from front groups linked to Stratfor, often referred to as the “Shadow CIA,” as well as the State Department and U.S. Intelligence. Additionally, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) receives backing from the Israel lobby. Recall my previous post about Project Esther, which linked antisemitism to Marxism. Expect a crackdown on leftists and other antiwar activists who are protesting the Gaza war.
On May 28, the Heritage Foundation—architect of Project Esther—officially embraced the narrative linking pro-Palestinian activism to Chinese influence.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther is more than a framework—it’s a blueprint for ideological suppression masquerading as national security policy. By tying anti-Zionism to antisemitism, then layering in foreign influence accusations, the initiative sets the stage for a sweeping crackdown on dissent. Under the guise of national security, any challenge to U.S. policy—whether in opposition to the Gaza war or broader leftist movements—can be framed as a foreign threat. This justification makes mass surveillance not just palatable but necessary.
Enter Palantir—the data engine that makes ideological suppression scalable. While Heritage Foundation shapes the narrative and justification for crackdowns, Palantir provides the technical apparatus to execute them. As I warned in my earlier post, EO 14243 and Trump’s Data Consolidation: The Hidden Agenda Behind Big Tech Surveillance, Palantir is embedding digital IDs across DHS, IRS, and Social Security, consolidating surveillance under the guise of fraud prevention. These tools, once presented as safeguards against fraud, now serve a far clearer purpose: streamlining the targeting and suppression of leftist dissent. Heritage Foundation supplies the blueprint—Palantir builds the machinery.
This isn’t new. The playbook remains the same—COINTELPRO weaponized bureaucratic surveillance to neutralize Black liberation and leftist movements under the guise of national security. Now, Project Esther will leverage EO 14243’s infrastructure to fuse ideological suppression with the mechanics of automated surveillance. Just as COINTELPRO framed activists as subversives to justify government crackdowns, Project Esther weaponizes accusations of extremism and foreign influence to achieve similar ends. The targets have shifted, but the machinery of repression remains intact.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
EO 14243 and Trump’s Data Consolidation: The Hidden Agenda Behind Big Tech Surveillance
As the implications of Executive Order 14243 (Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos) unfold, concerns about mass data aggregation and AI-driven surveillance are growing. This isn’t a distant possibility—it’s happening now, reshaping governance in ways that will only become clear when the consequences are irreversible. For those still questioning the scale of this transformation, consider this from Brian Berletic on Twitter:
Read More »New U.S. strategy towards ASEAN: caution, info-colonialism! (See commentary and notes)
The implementation of yet another U.S. initiative may allow it to interfere in the information policy of ASEAN and control the cyberspace of all of Southeast Asia.
Related:
This reminds me of the tech camps that were held in Ukraine before the Euromaidan. Anyone who has been following me for a while knows where that led to. Except, replace China with Russia.
Read More »The Protecting Kids On Social Media Act Is A Terrible Alternative To KOSA
We have covered the Protecting Kids On Social Media Act a few times, when it was first introduced back in April, where we highlighted how it was both unconstitutional and the rationale behind it was not supported by any actual evidence, and then again just recently when Senator Chris Murphy (one of the bill’s co-sponsors) wrote a ridiculously confused op-ed for the NY Times, claiming it was necessary because kids these days get too many music recommendations and no longer could discover new music on their own.
The Protecting Kids On Social Media Act Is A Terrible Alternative To KOSA
Related:
Senator Brian Schatz Joins The Moral Panic With Unconstitutional Age Verification Bill
Senator Brian Schatz is one of the more thoughtful Senators we have, and he and his staff have actually spent time talking to lots of experts in trying to craft bills regarding the internet. Unfortunately, it still seems like he still falls under the seductive sway of this or that moral panic, so when the bills actually come out, they’re perhaps more thoughtfully done than the moral panic bills of his colleagues, but they’re still destructive.
Senator Brian Schatz Joins The Moral Panic With Unconstitutional Age Verification Bill
Related:
Bipartisan Senate bill would ban social media algorithms for minors
Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Murphy (D-Conn), Katie Britt (R-Ala) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark) introduced the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act on Wednesday. The bill would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media sites, and would require parental consent and age verification for users under 18.
Congressional Rep Who Discovered His Info Was Illegally Searched By The FBI Likely Has No Legal Remedy
from the but-this-is-the-system-Congress-wants…. dept
The FBI has long enjoyed its close relationship with the NSA… or at least the NSA’s collections. Data and communications collected under the NSA’s Section 702 program contain plenty of “incidental” snooping on Americans. That’s because even though it’s a foreign-facing collection, Americans who communicate with people outside of the United States are swept up in the dragnet.
Congressional Rep Who Discovered His Info Was Illegally Searched By The FBI Likely Has No Legal Remedy
“Well that’s unfortunate. If only he were part of some kind of body that had the power to change the law.” [1]
The US Government Has Not Justified A TikTok Ban
from the the-1st-amendment-still-matters dept
Freedom of speech and association include the right to choose one’s communication technologies. Politicians shouldn’t be able to tell you what to say, where to say it, or who to say it to.
The US Government Has Not Justified A TikTok Ban
Why repealing or weakening Section 230 is a very bad idea
Section 230 is vital to free speech on the internet, and its critics are often misguided or wrong about the law.
Why repealing or weakening Section 230 is a very bad idea
Twitter puts free speech and transparency at risk if it fails to publish government takedown requests
For the past decade, Twitter has published biannual reports detailing takedown requests and legal demands the company received, including from governments around the world, as well as Twitter’s responses to those requests.
However, according to an update yesterday in Rolling Stone, Twitter failed to publish its most recent transparency report and has yet to respond to media requests about the oversight.
Twitter puts free speech and transparency at risk if it fails to publish government takedown requests
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