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CISA 'switchboarding': forwarding election misinformation reports to platforms

From 2018 until mid-2022, CISA's mis-, dis- and malinformation (MDM) team forwarded reports of alleged election misinformation from state and local election officials to social media platforms. The practice is admitted by CISA and described by the courts; whether it amounted to coercion or 'significant encouragement' is disputed.

Nov 3, 2020
Whose side it served: Neither party

Spanned administrations: began in 2018 and peaked in the 2020 election under Trump-era CISA leadership, then ended in mid-2022 under the Biden administration.

What the record shows

In Missouri v. Biden, the district court described switchboarding as a system letting election officials flag social media content they considered disinformation to CISA, which then shared it with platforms; CISA's own website had called the MDM team a 'switchboard for routing disinformation concerns to social-media platforms.' The court said the activity began in 2018 and ramped up near the 2020 election, staffed in part by college-student interns, one of whom signed emails as 'working for CISA.' CISA official Brian Scully testified he decided in late April or early May 2022 not to switchboard that year. The Supreme Court's 2024 opinion states CISA forwarded third-party reports 'until mid-2022' with a notice that it would take no action based on platforms' decisions, and that the government represented it would not resume for the 2024 election.

In their words

“w[ould] not take any action, favorable or unfavorable, toward social media companies”— CISA referral notice, as quoted by the Supreme Court in Murthy v. Missouri · source
“switchboard for routing disinformation concerns to social-media platforms”— CISA website, as quoted by Judge Terry Doughty (July 4, 2023) · source
The other side

CISA said it only relayed reports, that platforms applied their own policies, and that each referral carried a disclaimer that it was not demanding action. The Supreme Court found the record showed platforms 'continued to exercise their independent judgment' after government contacts.

Sources

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