According to human rights activists, the department launched a monitoring program, within the framework of which it analyzed the publications of users on social networks.
The American nonprofit human rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for more information on the proposed massive surveillance program by the US Postal Service.
According to human rights activists, the Postal Service launched an initiative called the Internet Covert Operations Program, in which it analyzed the huge volumes of user posts on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Parler to track what they say and what they share.
“We have issued this FOIA request to shed light on why and how the Postal Service monitors freedom of speech. This lawsuit protects the right to protest. The government has never clarified the legal basis for this observation. We ask the court to order the Postal Service to disclose details of this speech monitoring program that jeopardizes constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and confidentiality, ”said FED lawyer Houston Davidson.
Part of the problem lies in the lack of transparency and, consequently, control over such activities, human rights activists say. In addition, they are concerned that, based on generally innocuous publications, behavioral patterns may be created that do not correspond to reality.
“Through a combination of excessive data collection and analysis, social media monitoring considers something that is actually trite to be suspicious,” the lawsuit notes.
Until now, the Postal Service has been in no hurry to provide information on the program as part of the FOIA requests, now the department will be obliged to do this through the courts.
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