U.S. Capitol This Week Feb 6-9
U.S. Congress and the WHO Pandemic Treaty
Earlier this week, House Representative Chris Smith (R-N.J.) held a press conference on Capitol Hill to address his concerns about the problematic World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Accord. The treaty would grant the WHO a great deal of authority during pandemics and other pandemic-like circumstances, threatening the national sovereignty of signatory member states. If adopted, the accord would most likely be used to impose abortion and gender ideology on member states.
The Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) team was present at the press conference and several times throughout the event, Smith expressed gratitude to the C-Fam team for its efforts to inform Republican congressmen and congresswomen early on about the problematic nature of the Accord.
U.S. Congress and Disinformation
The United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government held a hearing this Tuesday, February 6th. The Committee brought several witnesses to discuss instances when the Federal Government used AI to censor conservative speech under the larger umbrella theme of “misinformation.”
Katelynn Richardson, Supreme Court Reporter for the Daily Caller, spoke of six ongoing “anti-misinformation” projects receiving $5M in taxpayer funding. One such project is a digital dashboard called Course Correct, which “helps” journalists locate and correct “misinformation.” Run by researchers from the University of Wisconsin, the project uses machine learning to identify networks where misinformation is spreading and pinpoint who is sharing it on social media. It highlights issues like “vaccine hesitancy” and “electoral skepticism” as areas of special interest.
“The government is not the arbiter of truth. Our Founders understood this, which is why we [Americans] have a First Amendment.”
At the hearing, Mr. Greg Lukianoff, President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expressions (FIRE) said:
“We do not want to be treated as children, but as citizens…Yes, we may have some fears about the proliferation of AI. But what those of us who care about civil liberties fear more is a government monopoly on advanced AI.”
