The information from LinkedIn connects social media to the national security state.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Daily Caller investigated the employment of federal employees in Big Tech companies using LinkedIn information.
- It was discovered that 248 former employees from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHA) now work in the social media industry.
- Between 2017-2022, Google hired 130 former federal employees, Meta hired 47 individuals from the agencies, TikTok employed 25 former government employees, and Twitter had 46 executives who were previously employed by government agencies.
- According to LinkedIn, a corporate security manager at Twitter worked for the FBI as a special agent for over 25 years.
- Another Twitter employee worked for the FBI’s Department of the Interior for 23 years. He then became Twitter’s director of information security for the insider threat program.
- Twitter’s crisis manager also worked for the FBI for 23 years as both a special agent and chief of staff.
- Dozens of other former FBI employees were hired at Twitter in various “security” positions.
- Many of the former federal agents left Twitter after Elon Musk became the company’s CEO.
REACTIONS TO BIG TECH-NATIONAL SECURITY STATE CONNECTION:
- Former Deputy Associate Attorney General for Donald Trump and Senior Counselor and Director of Oversight and Investigations for America First Legal Reed Rubenstein told the Daily Caller that the “integration of Big Tech and the national security state” is “dystopian” and “terrifying.”
- “They have enough data to show that that power, which is immense, will be abused. And right now there is no effective check on it,” Rubenstein continued.
- A research associate at the Tech Policy Center for the Heritage Foundation, Jake Denton, commented, “It is alarming to see former officials from agencies like the CIA and FBI embed themselves within these corporations, as it raises questions about their potential influence on corporate policies and business practices.”
- Denton added that “Americans should be deeply concerned” about the Big Tech/national security dynamic.
- Fellow on Domestic Intelligence and Security Services at the Center for Renewing America and FBI whistleblower Steve Friend explained that censorship against conservative social media accounts increased in 2018, around the same time that former federal employees were hired.
- “It is also noteworthy that many of the high-ranking FBI hires were close to reaching the 20-year retirement point,” Friend said. “This means those individuals sacrificed the honor of ‘retiring from the FBI’ as well as their pensions to move over into Big Tech.”
BACKGROUND:
- A report from Axios detailed the Biden administration’s plans to use social media influencers to push Biden’s reelection.
- The digital strategy aims to reach younger people, whose vote is necessary for the Democratic Party’s success.
- To accomplish the goal, the White House has considered developing a separate briefing room for the influencers, an unprecedented move.
