The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly removed a video instructing people to report family members for spreading “disinformation” online, according to a report by the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO).
Earlier this year, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a DHS subdivision, deleted a video from June 2021 tutoring viewers on “countering disinformation” related to the Covid-19 pandemic and reporting their relatives to social media platforms, according to a report by the FFO, a free speech advocacy group. FFO archived the video before CISA deleted it.
In the cartoon video, CISA depicts a woman named “Susan” looking at a post from her “Uncle Steve” claiming the Covid-19 pandemic is equivalent to the flu. The video criticizes the fictitious post and then advises Americans to look to public health authorities for guidance.
CISA presents another hypothetical post from “Uncle Steve” containing “fake news” misrepresenting government data. The government agency advises Americans to reply to their uncle and then “report” his post to the social media platform he is using, which appears to resemble Facebook.
CISA deleted the video between April 9 and May 9, 2023, internet archives show. The CISA video is also watchable on internet archives.
Hellbound and Down 