The FBI and a Ukrainian intelligence agency worked in tandem to stop Russian disinformation on social media but instead ended up ensnaring authentic American accounts, including a verified Russian language State Department account, according to a new report released by the House Judiciary Committee.
The report accuses the FBI of relying too heavily on the Ukrainian government’s assessments of the social media accounts and sailing to vet them on their own. The assessments were done by one of Ukraine’s top intelligence agencies, the SBU, which at the time was infiltrated by Russian actors. This led to several American accounts being flagged as Russian disinformation, even those that were critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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The information in the report comes from a number of subpoenas issued in February to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, as well as a number of interviews with employees. It was compiled in tandem with the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the FBI sought to censor Russian disinformation about the attack on social media, which included the bureau passing on tips about accounts spreading information to social media companies. But, the report alleges that a lot of these accounts weren’t vetted properly, and even if they were, the FBI had no legal basis to request their removal.
“Regardless of its intended purpose in endorsing the SBU’s requests, the FBI had no legal justification for facilitating the censorship of Americans’ protected speech on social media,” the report reads.
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the report, the process was the SBU would “identify and impair suspected Russian influence operations on social media” and then enlist the help of the FBI by “transmitting to the FBI lists of social media accounts that allegedly ‘spread Russian disinformation.’” In turn, the FBI then “routinely relayed these lists to the relevant social media platforms, which distributed the information internally to their employees in charge of content moderation and enforcement.”
In March 2022 alone, the FBI, in cahoots with the SBU, flagged more than 25 social media accounts to Meta and Alphabet that were allegedly producing Russian disinformation.
On March 2, 2022, the FBI sent a list of accounts to Meta with the subject line “additional accounts received from the SBU – believed to be involved in disinformation.” Included were a list of Instagram accounts that the SBU accused of, in part, “distribut[ing] content that promotes war, inaccurately reflects events in Ukraine, justifies Russian war crimes in Ukraine in violation of international law.”
One of those accounts was a verified State Department Instagram account. According to the report, neither the FBI nor SBU provided an explanation as to how the State Department account was involved in Russian disinformation.
But at the time of the request, the SBU was being led by Ivan Bakanov, who would later be fired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky because it had come to light that members had been collaborating with Russia. According to Zelensky at the time, more than 651 cases of alleged treason and collaboration had been opened with about 60 officials from the SBU and other agencies actively working against Ukraine.
“Given that the SBU was compromised by a network of Russian collaborators, sympathizers, and double agents at the time of its interactions with the FBI, the FBI’s uncritical cooperation with the SBU’s requests is deeply concerning,” the report says.
In addition to the State Department Instagram being flagged, the FBI also passed along to Meta on behalf of the SBU an account from an American journalist who served on the staff of a “self-styled ‘socialist’ news organization based in the United States.”
The FBI also sought to censor Russian disinformation on Google platforms. According to a senior Google employee interviewed by the committee, the primary sources of the censorship requests were “the Ukrainian government, other Eastern European governments, the European Union, and the European Commission.” The employee testified that the Department of Justice would “route” the requests from the foreign entities to the company.
The FBI and SBU also sought to censor American journalists on Twitter, the report found. The former head of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Team, Yoel Roth, warned the FBI that the accounts they had accused of “spreading fear and disinformation” included a “mix of individuals,” including “American and Canadian journalists.” Roth asked the FBI for “additional information or context” on the accounts.
The FBI responded to Roth by saying it is “unlikely there will be any additional information or context.”
This report comes just days before the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, is set to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee and amid a fight about whether or not to fund the DOJ fully.
The FBI is also asking for funds for a new headquarters, which is something that House Republicans were already not keen on funding.
Next steps
In light of these new revelations, House Republicans have increased their calls for reforms within the FBI, alleging the agency is corrupt and saying the need for new leadership is necessary.
“New evidence is revealed almost daily now to prove the leadership of the FBI has corrupted the agency,” Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), who sits on Judiciary and the Weaponization subcommittee, said in a statement. “This report shows the leadership was co-opted by fake foreign intelligence, volunteered that information to big tech platforms, then used the fake intelligence to censor both American citizens and journalists. The FBI has violated its mandate to protect Americans in pursuit of leftwing causes, and through the appropriations process and Congressional investigations, House Republicans will deliver reform of our intelligence agencies.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he is working with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on legislation “that would give the taxpayer, the citizen, some greater rights” and hopes to have those bills ready soon.
Jordan also said Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 702 would not be reauthorized without “huge” reforms.
The 702 portion of the FISA law relates to what is described as “a key provision” of FISA “that permits the government to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign persons located outside the United States.”
Jordan also praised the preliminary injunction by a federal judge that blocked contact between the Biden administration officials and social media companies ruling that the two were working together to censor speech.
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Looking forward to Wednesday’s Judiciary hearing with Wray, Jordan said he hopes to get some real answers out of the FBI director about issues that he finds very concerning.
“This is the FBI that has retaliated against whistleblowers. It’s the FBI who was cited in Judge Doughtry’s decision in federal court last week about censoring American Speech. Yet, they want a new headquarters, the idea that they want to reauthorize 702 FISA in its current form is just ridiculous,” Jordan said.
