Facebook reportedly spied on the private messages of “conservative right-wing individuals” and provided redacted data “leads” to the FBI’s domestic terrorism unit, sources familiar with the matter told the New York Post.
The social media giant has collaborated with the FBI for the past 19 months, sources told the Post. Those who have been reported to the bureau are individuals who have questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election as well as expressed “anti-government” or “anti-authority sentiments,” sources told the outlet. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: The FBI Secretly Pressured Americans To Waive Away Their Gun Rights)
“It was done outside the legal process and without probable cause,” a source who spoke on condition of anonymity claimed to the Post. “Facebook provides the FBI with private conversations which are protected by the First Amendment without any subpoena.”
Facebook flagged the messages and sent with them to FBI field offices nationwide without subpoenas, according to the Post. The messages were framed as “leads,” the outlet reported.
Field offices then requested subpoenas from U.S. Attorneys Offices to try to obtain the messages through Facebook they already reviewed, the outlet alleged. FBI agents in field offices investigated Facebook users in their offices and occasionally by means of “covert surveillance techniques,” sources told the Post.
MIAMI – JUNE 23: The FBI building that was allegedly one of the targets of a group of seven individuals, who were arrested yesterday, is seen June 23, 2006 in Miami, Florida. According to reports, the suspected terror group also wanted to target the Sears tower in Chicago. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“They were gun-toting, red-blooded Americans [who were] angry after the election and shooting off their mouths and talking about staging protests,” another source told the Post, describing the individuals allegedly targeted by Facebook. “There was nothing criminal, nothing about violence or massacring or assassinating anyone.”
The FBI told the Post it can neither confirm nor deny the allegations from sources.
“The FBI maintains relationships with U.S. private sector entities, including social media providers,” a bureau spokesperson told the outlet. The FBI has provided companies with foreign threat indicators to help them protect their platforms and customers from abuse by foreign malign influence actors.”
A Facebook spokeswoman first told the Post the allegations are “false” and “reflect a misunderstanding of how our systems protect people from harm and how we engage with law enforcement.” However, the spokeswoman then told the Post the allegations are not “false” but rather “wrong.”
“The suggestion we seek out peoples’ private messages for anti-government language or questions about the validity of past elections and then proactively supply those to the FBI is plainly inaccurate and there is zero evidence to support it,” said the spokeswoman.
The FBI did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. Facebook pointed the DCNF to a statement Meta spokesman Andy Stone posted on Twitter about the Post’s report.
“These claims are just wrong,” said the spokesman. “The suggestion we seek out peoples’ private messages for anti-government language or questions about the validity of past elections and then proactively supply those to the FBI is plainly inaccurate and there is zero evidence to support it.”
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