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The federal government is laying the groundwork for using artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor civilian protests and suppress dissent, warns a new report from the House Subcommittee on Government Weaponization.
“The executive branch of the federal government has poured millions of taxpayer dollars into the development of AI-powered tools to mass monitor and censor content, leading to the censorship of protected speech,” states the report, shared exclusively with The New York Post.
Citing international examples, the report highlighted how AI tools were used to stifle dissent, such as during the COVID-19 protests in Canada and the UK, where AI-driven platforms like Logically.AI reportedly helped track and suppress dissent.
At home, concerns have risen over President Biden’s executive orders aimed at regulating AI. The report suggests these actions—like those mandating companies to root out “algorithmic discrimination”—may have influenced controversial developments such as Google’s “woke” AI models, which faced criticism for being reluctant to generate images of white historical figures.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has regulated new AI models directly and indirectly, pressuring private companies to ‘advance equity,’ stop ‘algorithmic discrimination,’ and ‘mitigate the production of harmful and biased outputs,’” the report claims. “These regulations provide the means for the federal government to monitor, suppress, and ultimately censor views and information disfavored by the government.”
Biden has taken multiple steps to position the U.S. as a leader in AI safety, including an executive order requiring AI companies to disclose how they train models. While presented as measures to foster ethical AI use, the report warns these policies could lay the groundwork for government overreach.
The subcommittee also raised alarms over government funding for AI projects tied to content moderation. Grants from the National Science Foundation and the State Department’s Global Engagement Center have supported AI tools aimed at combating “misinformation” and promoting vaccine-related behavioral changes.
“Excessive government meddling in AI development could compel government-preferred bias to become ingrained in AI models, thereby undermining Americans’ First Amendment right to free expression,” the report states.
In recent months, the Biden administration also secured voluntary commitments from AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to curtail “harmful bias” and share their AI models with government agencies before public release. Meanwhile, a newly formed task force within the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute has started establishing safety benchmarks for AI in partnership with agencies like the Department of Defense and National Security Agency.
The weaponization subcommittee argued that such initiatives echo the administration’s alleged collusion with social media companies during the pandemic, warning, “Like the social media companies before them, AI developers are likely mindful that the powerful executive branch could cripple their businesses with regulatory retaliation, leaving practically no choice but to comply.”
To counter these threats, the subcommittee is urging the federal government to halt AI-related content moderation funding, refrain from intervening in private companies’ AI algorithms and datasets, and withdraw from global AI regulation efforts that could affect free speech. It is also pushing the Censorship Accountability Act, which would require federal agencies to disclose any communications related to content moderation.
“The next Congress must act to prevent the rise of AI-powered censorship and preserve the constitutional rights of all Americans,” the report concludes.
