By Matt Lamb

Big Tech officials, including a recently-fired Twitter executive, worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to censor information on social media about COVID, the 2020 election, and other topics, according to a report from The Intercept.

The information comes after a lawsuit from Missouri and Louisiana revealed that top FBI, Department of Health and Human Services, and other Biden officials worked alongside Big Tech to shut down a wide range of information, including a parody Facebook account of Dr. Anthony Fauci. The Intercept based some of its reporting on documents obtained through the lawsuit.

DHS also attempted in April to launch a national "Disinformation Governance Board," but backtracked after facing public pressure.

"Facebook and Twitter created special portals for the government to rapidly request takedowns of content," Intercept reporter Lee Fang wrote on Twitter. "The portals, along with NGO partners used to censor a wide range of content, including obvious parody accounts and content disagreeing w gov pandemic policy."

Twitter’s top censor, Vijaya Gadde, recently fired by Elon Musk in his takeover of the company, met monthly with DHS officials according to text messages obtained by The Intercept.

“Platforms have got to get comfortable with gov’t,” a Microsoft exec reportedly said in a message.

National security officials were involved in the censorship, according to Fang, because “the agency argues false information is a source of radicalization & violence.”