FBI counterterrorism official says agency doesn't monitor social media without predication, baffling experts
Jill Sanborn, the assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, "baffled" experts during her congressional testimony about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot Wednesday.
The reason the FBI missed so many of the threats in the lead up to the attack was because the bureau does not believe it has the authority to monitor public social media unless there's predication, like an open investigation, Sanborn testified. The explanation left Rachel Levinson-Waldman, the deputy director of the Liberty and National Security program at The Brennan Center, perplexed, especially after she detailed the FBI's policies on the matter for Just Security last month.
In that piece, Levinson-Waldman noted "there are no constraints" on FBI agents' ability to sift through public social media content even "before opening any kind of inquiry."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Once an investigation is open, the FBI has even more leeway such as creating an undercover account or entering private chatrooms and forums, Levinson-Waldman wrote, adding that there are concerns about the latitude of the agency's authority "in light of its documented history targeting and surveilling communities and activists of color."
Levinson-Waldman didn't accuse Sanborn of delivering false testimony, but she argued that there's at least "a very basic disagreement" over the policies, and "it would be extremely helpful for Sanborn to elaborate on this."
The Wall Street Journal's Dustin Volz was also confused, pointing to some of his past reporting that found the FBI is, in fact, quite proactive on this front. Tim O'Donnell
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - March 18, 2024
Cartoons Monday's cartoons - a slimy slithering app, defying gravity, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Putin's preordained win marred by protests
speed read Voters participated in a silent protest — endorsed by late opposition leader Alexei Navalny — against the president
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Michigan shooter's dad guilty of manslaughter
speed read James Crumbley failed to prevent his son from killing four students at Oxford High School in 2021
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Shooting at Chiefs victory rally kills 1, injures 21
Speed Read Gunfire broke out at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade in Missouri
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Court rules Josef Fritzl can be moved to normal prison
Speed Read 'Notorious' criminal, now 88, was convicted for raping, committing incest and imprisoning his daughter
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Post Office scandal casts new light on Robin Garbutt murder conviction
Speed Read Supporters claim faulty Horizon evidence was key to guilty verdict but victim's mother accuses former postmaster of jumping on bandwagon
By The Week UK Published
-
Uvalde parents want indictments after DOJ's scathing school shooting report
Speed Read The Justice Department's damning review of the May 2022 school shooting in Texas details 'cascading failures,' but families of the victims want justice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Girls left 'at the mercy' of Rochdale sex abuse gangs, says 'damning' review
Speed Read Victims 'badly failed' by council and police, said Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Prague shooting: student kills 14 people at university
Speed reads Police believe suspect, who killed himself, may have shot his father before carrying out mass murder
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Diamond in the dust: mystery of the missing Ritz Paris ring solved
Speed Read A £640,000 ring feared stolen from a hotel room is found – in a vacuum cleaner bag
By The Week UK Published