Senate Intelligence Committee Forced To Drop 'Terrorist-Activity' Reporting Requirements For Social Media Platforms

from the play-nice-with-the-private-sector-or-the-NSA-has-to-work-for-free dept

Less than three months after announcing it was considering turning major social media platforms into unpaid government informants, the Senate Intelligence Committee is dropping its proposed requirement that Facebook, Twitter, etc. report "terrorist activity" to designated agencies.

Well, "dropping" is the polite phrasing. It's actually been forced to give up this demand (by one of the more rational members of the SIC, Ron Wyden) to ensure it gets its intelligence funding bill passed. As Wyden points out, social media entities should be in the business of social media, not acting as under-equipped stand-ins for law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

“Going after terrorist recruitment and activity online is a serious mission that demands a serous response from our law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” Wyden said in a statement, adding that he will now allow a vote on the intelligence bill. “Social media companies aren't qualified to judge which posts amount to ‘terrorist activity,’ and they shouldn’t be forced against their will to create a Facebook Bureau of Investigations to police their users’ speech.”

The government is rightfully concerned about the use of social media by terrorist groups, but the solution isn't to deploy private companies as ad hoc intelligence operatives. A majority of major social platforms already police their networks for inappropriate content -- which includes obvious terrorist-related postings -- and report these to appropriate authorities. The half-assed directive proposed by Sen. Feinstein would have been, at best, redundant. It would have applied only to social media platforms that already policed their own networks for this content. It would not have forced new entrants into the market to comply with the reporting requirements.

Despite its apparent death, Senator Feinstein still believes the redundant/useless directive is still the right thing to do.

“Sen. Feinstein still believes it’s important to block terrorists’ use of social media to recruit and incite violence and will continue to work on achieving that goal,” Mentzer emphasized.

It should be noted that blocking is a far more severe action than removal and reporting. This wasn't how the proposal was pitched ("“a… low burden” to companies, who would have to report only activity that has been reported to them…). Feinstein's post-defeat statements have exposed her ultimate goal for this directive: an attack on free speech disguised as a minimal burden, and one that once again would displace civil liberties to make room for more (national) security.

Filed Under: dianne feinstein, intelligence authorization, ron wyden, senate intelligence committee, social media, terrorist reporting