Postal Inspection Service is the primary law enforcement, crime prevention, and security arm of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service did not respond to specific questions sent by Yahoo News about iCOP, but provided a general statement on its authorities. “If they’re simply engaging in lawfully protected speech, even if it’s odious or objectionable, then monitoring them on that basis raises serious constitutional concerns.” “If the individuals they’re monitoring are carrying out or planning criminal activity, that should be the purview of the FBI,” she said. Levinson-Waldman also questioned the legal authority of the Postal Service to monitor social media activity. It’s not at all clear why their mandate would include monitoring of social media that’s unrelated to use of the postal system.”Ī worker sorts mail-in ballots for last year's March 3 Super Tuesday primaries at the Orange County Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana, Calif. “Based on the very minimal information that’s available online, it appears that is meant to root out misuse of the postal system by online actors, which doesn’t seem to encompass what’s going on here.

“This seems a little bizarre,” agreed Rachel Levinson-Waldman, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty and national security program. Why the post office would now move into social media surveillance, which would appear to have little to do with mail deliveries, is unclear. The Postal Service has had a turbulent year, facing financial insolvency and allegations that its head, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, was slowing down deliveries just as the pandemic vastly increased the number of mail-in ballots for the 2020 election. “I don’t understand why the government would go to the Postal Service for examining the internet for security issues.” “It’s a mystery,” said University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone, whom President Barack Obama appointed to review the National Security Agency’s bulk data collection in the wake of the Edward Snowden leaks. When contacted by Yahoo News, civil liberties experts expressed alarm at the post office’s surveillance program. 6, such data collection has also sparked concerns about the government surveilling peaceful protesters or those engaged in protected First Amendment activities. While posts on platforms such as Facebook and Parler have allowed law enforcement to track down and arrest rioters who assaulted the Capitol on Jan.

The government’s monitoring of Americans’ social media is the subject of ongoing debate inside and outside government, particularly in recent months, following a rise in domestic unrest. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Individuals mentioned by name include one alleged Proud Boy and several others whose identifying details were included but whose posts did not appear to contain anything threatening. The bulletin includes screenshots of posts about the protests from Facebook, Parler, Telegram and other social media sites. “No intelligence is available to suggest the legitimacy of these threats,” it adds. Image 3 on the right is a screenshot from Parler indicating two users discussing the event as an opportunity to engage in a ‘fight’ and to ‘do serious damage,’” says the bulletin. “Parler users have commented about their intent to use the rallies to engage in violence. “Locations and times have been identified for these protests, which are being distributed online across multiple social media platforms, to include right-wing leaning Parler and Telegram accounts.”Ī number of groups were expected to gather in cities around the globe on March 20 as part of a World Wide Rally for Freedom and Democracy, to protest everything from lockdown measures to 5G. “Analysts with the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) monitored significant activity regarding planned protests occurring internationally and domestically on March 20, 2021,” says the March 16 government bulletin, marked as “law enforcement sensitive” and distributed through the Department of Homeland Security’s fusion centers.

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