Stanford/Internet Observatory

"Disinformation research"  Stanford/Internet Observatory (Cut-out, Censor)
Formation	2019
Founder	•  Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies •  Stanford Law School •  Alex Stamos
Extinction	2024
Headquarters	Stanford
Interests	Internet censorship, Second Amendment, “disinformation”, US/2020 Presidential election
Sponsored by	Omidyar Network
Membership	•  Jeff Hancock •  Elena Cryst •  Renée DiResta •  Shelby Grossman •  David Thiel •  Riana Pfefferkorn •  Dan Bateyko •  John Perrino •  Karen Nershi •  Ronald Robertson •  Tongtong Zhang
Cut-out for the Department of Homeland Security to censor online speech. Wound down (or activities shifted to other places) in 2024 after increasing exposure.

The Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) was a hub created by the deep state to alert, suppress and remove certain online speech in coordination with big tech companies. It was wound down in 2024 after increasing exposure of its activities. Its activities will most likely continue under other names.

History

The Observatory was founded in 2019 by Alex Stamos, a former Facebook chief security officer.

It was created by the Department of Homeland Security A 2023 House of Representatives report noted that under the influence of CISA's Countering Foreign Influence Task Force, the federal government's effort was to "censor Americans engaged in core political speech in the lead up to the 2020 election. DHS noted in May 2020, according to the report, that it could not "openly endorse" a type of system to flag misinformation. Stanford's Election Integrity Project took up the effort two months later, in July 2020."

The Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), worked with the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to alert, suppress and remove certain online speech in coordination with big tech companies. According to 2023 House of Representatives the report, internal communications showed how "the federal government and universities pressured social media companies to censor true information, jokes, and political opinions." A disclaimer featured on several of the CISA emails noted that its requests were "voluntary" and that the agency "neither has nor seeks the ability to remove what information is made available on social media platforms."

SIO and its researchers were sued three times by conservative groups alleging that its researchers colluded illegally with the federal government to censor speech. America First Legal sued the lab in 2023 over its role with the Virality Project, which sought to crack down on "Covid-19 disinformation", and the Election Integrity Project, which was founded in 2020 to "defend our elections against those who seek to undermine them by exploiting weaknesses in the online information environment."

The journalist Michael Shellenberger wrote that Renée DiResta "spread disinformation exaggerating the influence of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election" and "successfully pressured social media platforms to censor favored views of Covid and interfere in the 2020 elections."

Closing?

The observatory officially was wound down in 2024, although its work will continue under other labels. The remnants of SIO will be reconstituted under Jeff Hancock, the lab’s faculty sponsor. Hancock, a professor of communication, runs a separate program known as the Stanford Social Media Lab. Two of SIO’s major initiatives — the Journal of Online Trust and Safety and its Trust and Safety Research Conference — will also continue.

 

Employee on Wikispooks

Employee	Job	Description
Renee DiResta	Research manager	"Former" CIA operative

 

Known member

1 of the 11 of the members already have pages here:

Member
Renée DiResta

 

Sponsor

Event	Description
Omidyar Network	Foundation owned by the the deep state-connected billionaire Pierre Omidyar, financing preferred NGOs

 

Event Participated in

Event	Start	End	Description
Call to Action: CSIS-LSHTM High-Level Panel on Vaccine Confidence and Misinformation	19 October 2020	19 October 2020	Strategic public-private master plan for medical censorship and vaccine persuasion.

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