Sat, 05/01/2021 - 02:38 legitgov
Gaetz, House Republicans introduce bill to defund Postal Service covert operations program | 30 April 2021 | Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and a group of other House Republicans on Friday introduced legislation to end funding for an arm of the U.S. Postal Service that carries out online surveillance. The legislation was rolled out in response to a March bulletin, reported by Yahoo News earlier this month, distributed by the Postal Service s Inspection Service s Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP). The bulletin cited iCOP concerns about potential significant protests planned for March 20 based on online inflammatory material and posts on social media platforms Parler and Telegram. The new bill backed by almost a dozen House Republicans would prohibit federal funds from being used for iCOP.
Louis DeJoy ordered postal inspectors to monitor Americans social media posts amid George Floyd protests Image via Screengrab.
Embattled
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been under fire by Democrats ever since he directed the slowdown of mail delivery before the November 2020 election along with the dismantling of hundreds of millions of dollars of proprietary federal government assets like mail sorting machines and post office mail drop boxes.
But as Yahoo News reports Friday, now Republicans are on the attack after the Chief Postal Inspector revealed to lawmakers on Wednesday that, as part of its Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP), DeJoy personally ordered the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to begin to monitor Americans social media accounts. The USPIS is a full law enforcement agency that is part of the USPS and is under DeJoy s purview.
The legislation was rolled out in response to a March bulletin, reported by Yahoo News earlier this month, distributed by the Postal Service’s Inspection Service’s Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP). The bulletin cited iCOP concerns about potential “significant” protests planned for March 20 based on “online inflammatory material” and posts on social media platforms Parler and Telegram.
“iCOP analysts are currently monitoring these social media channels for any potential threats stemming from the scheduled protests and will disseminate intelligence updates if needed, the agency wrote in the bulletin.
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The new bill backed by almost a dozen House Republicans would prohibit federal funds from being used for iCOP. The legislation’s text accuses the organization of being “politically motivated in its target,” and the USPS of “operating a clandestine domestic surveillance program of Americans’ social media activity.”
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Social media giant TikTok gained a new CEO on Friday with ties to parent company ByteDance. Meanwhile, a top Justice Department official said the agency would soon undertake a cybersecurity review to improve its response to cyber threats, and the European Commission clapped back at Apple for allegedly abusing its dominant position on its App Store for music streaming apps.
DOJ STEPS UP TO THE CYBER PLATE: The Justice Department will soon begin a 120 day review of cybersecurity challenges in the midst of escalating cyber threats.
Newly confirmed Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the review during virtual remarks at the Munich Cyber Security Conference, stressing that the U.S. was at a “pivot point” around how it approaches cybersecurity concerns.