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Censorship Industrial Complex

Biden admin used banks to spy on Americans’ financial data, targeted Trump supporters: House report

Published

1 month ago

5 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Doug Mainwaring

‘The scale of this surveillance is staggering,’ warns a startling new US House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. ‘Without safeguards, this could lead to widespread abuse of power and debanking.’

A startling report from the U.S. House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reveals how, under the Biden-Harris administration, the FBI and the Treasury Department have manipulated federal laws such as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to access Americans’ private financial data – without a warrant.  

The committee has published a succinct video summary of its 47-page report on X, beginning with a question: “Think your finances are private?  Think again.”  

The video explains: 

“The federal government has conditioned financial institutions to work for them, inducing them to hand over your sensitive financial data without a warrant   

When a bank submits an inquiry with your financial details, the federal government compiles it into a searchable database. In 2023, this database was accessed by over 14,000 government employees to conduct more than 3 million warrantless searches.  

The federal government’s financial surveillance program is vast and can lead to something called ‘debanking.’ If you’re flagged, you could lose access to your own money. If you buy a Bible, shop at Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, or an ammo store, your financial data could be shared.  

The system is broken and your privacy is under attack. Federal law enforcement is seeking unfettered access to your finances, all while ignoring your 4th Amendment rights.  

The next time you swipe your card, know that someone may be watching. And it’s not just the banks. It’s the federal government.”

Purchase of Bibles or firearms deemed by the government as signs of ‘extremism’  

“It all started after a whistleblower told the Committee that following January 6, Bank of America (BoA) voluntarily provided the FBI with a list of individuals who used BoA cards in the DC area during that time—without legal process,” noted the committee in a thread on X. “The federal government used sweeping terms like ‘MAGA’ and ‘TRUMP’ to flag Americans, even treating the purchase of Bibles or firearms as signs of ‘extremism.’” 

“The scale of this surveillance is staggering,” they declared on X.  

“This ongoing investigation reveals a disturbing trend: The government is using financial institutions as de facto arms of law enforcement, profiling Americans and flagging them as ‘suspicious’ based on vague criteria,” continues the thread. “Without safeguards, this could lead to widespread abuse of power and debanking. This investigation is not over. The federal government’s ability to spy on Americans’ financial data cannot go unchecked.” 

The committee report warns: 

All Americans should be disturbed by how their financial data is collected, made accessible to, and searched by federal and state officials, including law enforcement and regulatory agencies. With the rise in e-commerce and the widespread adoption of cash alternatives like credit cards or peer-to-peer payment services, the future leaves very little financial activity beyond the purview of modern financial institutions or the government’s prying eyes. This is because, as a condition of participating in the modern economy, Americans are forced to disclose details of their private lives to a financial industry that has been too eager to pass this information along to federal law enforcement. 

‘Your beliefs or your bank account: You can’t have both’ 

“No American should have to worry that a financial institution will deny them service based on their religious beliefs,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Jeremy Tedesco concerning a case involving the debanking by Bank of America of a conservative Christian charity that partners with Ugandan ministries to provide basic necessities for orphaned and vulnerable children. “Canceling their account hurts those in need. It also sends a disturbing message to everyone—you can have your beliefs or your bank account, but you can’t have both.”   

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UK lawmaker threatens to use Online Safety Act to censor social media platforms

Published on January 20, 2025

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From LifeSiteNews

By Didi Rankovic

Labour MP Lola McEvoy defended the Online Safety Act’s censorious measures, including bans and fines for social media platforms which ‘don’t comply’ with the strict age verification law.

Politicians from the U.K.’s ruling Labour party are starting to openly “out” the country’s Online Safety Act for the sweeping censorship law that its opponents have all along been warning it is.

The extreme case of using the law to completely ban social media platforms in the U.K. is now being promoted as a possibility by Labour MP Lola McEvoy.

“If these big platforms that have huge users don’t comply with the Online Safety Act, then they have no right to be accessed in this country,” the MP said while appearing on a podcast, adding, “So I think that’s what the law’s about.”

The masks are coming off, prompted by the latest clash between the government and Prime Minister Keir Starmer in particular and X owner Elon Musk – who criticized their role in a historical child sex exploitation scandal in the U.K.

In addition to saying that failure to comply with the law could result in the platforms getting banned, McEvoy suggested that “unelected citizens from other countries” should not be allowed to criticize U.K.’s government – she justified this by saying the criticism of Minister for Safeguarding Jess Phillips created “a very dangerous situation,” equating it to “bullying and harassment.”

McEvoy even made a point of public figures needing to be even more aggressively protected through censorship – effectively from whatever the government backing those figures decides to pack into the vague categories such as “bullying” and “harassment,” and in that way deal with critical, including legitimate, speech.

And where would any controversial call to step up online censorship be without getting served to the public as a way to above all – protect children?

McEvoy spoke about regulator Ofcom’s powers, which she described as “really significant” in enforcing the fines under the law that is being gradually implemented.

And as that is happening, this MP wants the Online Safety Act to be “strengthened” where it concerns the focus on things it treats as harmful to children, such as access to illegal content or pornography.

Reprinted with permission from Reclaim The Net.

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Censorship Industrial Complex

WEF Davos 2025: Attendees at annual meeting wrestling for control of information

Published on January 19, 2025

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By Didi Rankovic

World Economic Forum’s Prioritizes “Disinformation” Over Economic and Global Stability Threats

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is gearing up for its Davos meeting, set to take place January 20-24, and the group has now released the Global Risks Report 2025.

The report is based on “insights” from the Global Risks Perception Survey that take into account the opinions of 900 “global leaders” across business, government, academia and civil society, the WEF said.

The report reflects the unrelenting drive still present in many corners of the world and among political elites to push what they consider “disinformation” to the top of this agenda.

And so the WEF paper talks about “armed conflict, environment, and disinformation” as “top threats” this year. And that, as the authors note, from their point of view leaves economic risks as having “less immediate prominence.”

Meanwhile, “mis/disinformation” is ranked higher as a threat and that has happened two years in a row. This reads like another instance of taking an alarmist approach to “disinformation” (which then comes in handy when pushing all sorts of controversial policies, affecting online speech, security, and technology development).

The WEF report elevates “disinformation” to a “persistent threat to societal cohesion and governance by eroding trust” – and even “exacerbating divisions within and between nations” and “complicating” ways to cooperate on ending international crises.

And, when AI is thrown into the mix in its “adverse” form – “disinformation” underpins rising geopolitical tensions.

The way the report frames the issue of disinformation, that seems to be the only thing standing in the way of world peace.

While creating high drama around “disinformation” is one piece of the puzzle, the WEF also looks at long-term threats, such as to the environment. This, according to the document, will be dominant over the next decade, and this is the language the group uses: “(…) led by extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.”

With the threats presented like this, the “solutions” are also very much in line with the WEF mission: promote more and more globalization, even as many countries might be looking to what the group disapprovingly calls, “turning inward.”

Instead, the WEF wants them to essentially double down on globalization, allegedly as the only way to “prevent a downward spiral of instability.”

One of the goals the WEF promotes – and is also one of the five overall topics of this year’s Davos meeting – is “rebuilding trust.”

Now, if only this group would focus more on explaining how that trust was lost.
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