Original article posted on GreenMedInfo.com by Sayer Ji.
Imran Ahmed, the CEO of The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is undergoing investigation by the Committee on the Judiciary for providing the Biden Administration with the “Disinformation Dozen” report it used to malign American citizens and violate their civil liberties.
Today, Jim Jordan, chairman of both the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, sent Mr. Imran Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), notification that the Committee on the Judiciary is conducting an investigation into how third parties like CCDH appear to have played a role in a “censorship regime,” involving coercion and collusion with the Executive Branch of the US government to censor protected speech and violate the civil liberties of Americans.
In the letter, posted below, Jim Jordan informed Imran Ahmed that owing to the Committee’s constitutional oversight obligations, they are requesting all relevant information and documents from CCHD.
Jim Jordan goes on to explain that the Committee is interested in “understanding the interactions between the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and the federal government in particular, as well as between CCDH and social media companies.” Most notably, the letter states:
“The Biden White House relied on CCDH’s report titled “The Disinformation Dozen,” in its unconstitutional pressure campaign against social media platforms to censor those, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who CCDH maligned as “anti-vaxxers . . . responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating on social media platforms.”
As has been widely reported, CCDH’s document was based on fraudulent statistics, with a 300-fold magnitude of error, according to Facebook official statement and numbers. Yet no correction, apology nor retraction has ever been published despite the profound reputational and financial damage it caused the 12 named individuals in the their “disinformation dozen report, myself included.
The documents and information the Committee is requesting by no later than 5:00 pm on August 17th, 2023 include the following:
1. All documents and communications, from January 1, 2015 to the present, between or among any employee, contractor, or agent of your organization and the Executive Branch of the United States Government referring or relating to the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
2. All documents and communications, from January 1, 2015 to the present, between or among any employee, contractor, or agent of your organization and any technology company, including social media companies, referring or relating to the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
3. A list of employees, contractors, or agents of your organization, along with their current and prior titles, who, from January 1, 2015 to the present, have communicated with the Executive Branch of the United States Government regarding the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
4. A list of employees, contractors, or agents for your organization, along with their current and prior titles, who, from January 1, 2015 to the present, have communicated with any technology company, including social media companies, regarding the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
5. A list of all grants, contracts, or any funds received, from January 1, 2015 to the present, from the United States Government, as well as any underlying documentation that reflects those grants, contracts, or funds, relating in any way to your organization’s efforts concerning the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
The letter goes on to put Imran on notice that he should treat these discovery obligations as ongoing and applicable to any information generated after the receipt of the letter. And that the letter serves as a formal request for Imran and his organization to “preserve all existing and future records and materials relating to the topics addressed in this letter.” Moreover, the letter states that all reasonable steps should be made to prevent the destruction or alteration of any document or media or meta data that is relevant to a congressional inquiry.
The letter ends with the following paragraph:
“Pursuant to the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary has jurisdiction to conduct oversight of matters concerning “civil liberties” to inform potential legislative reforms. In addition, H. Res. 12 authorized the Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government to investigate “issues related to the violation of the civil liberties of citizens of the United States.”
This is a developing story, and will be updated as more information becomes available. You can read Jim Jordan’s letter below.
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