The US Postal Service (USPS) has been running a secret program to\u00a0track and collect Americans’ social media posts<\/strong>\u00a0– including those about planned protests, according to a document obtained by\u00a0Yahoo News<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n The surveillance program – operated by the law enforcement arm of the USPS, is known as\u00a0iCOP<\/strong>\u00a0or “Internet Covert Operations Program” – has not been previously made public according to the report.<\/p>\n The work involves having analysts trawl through social media sites to look for what the document describes as \u201cinflammatory\u201d postings and then sharing that information across government agencies. –<\/em>Yahoo News<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n “Analysts with the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) monitored significant activity regarding planned protests occurring internationally and domestically on March 20, 2021<\/strong>,” reads a government bulletin dated March 16, marked as “law enforcement sensitive” and distributed throughout the Department of Homeland Security’s fusion centers.<\/p>\n “Locations and times have been identified for these protests, which are being distributed online across multiple social media platforms,\u00a0to include right-wing leaning Parler and Telegram accounts.<\/u><\/strong>”<\/p>\n The report cites intelligence that ‘a number of groups were expected to gather in cities around the globe on March 20 as part of a World Wide Rally for Freedom and Democracy’\u00a0against pandemic lockdown measures.<\/strong><\/p>\n “Parler users have commented about their intent to use the rallies to engage in violence. Image 3 on the right is a screenshot from Parler indicating two users discussing the event as an opportunity to engage in a \u2018fight\u2019 and to \u2018do serious damage,\u2019” reads the bulletin,” though it hedges with “No intelligence is available to suggest the legitimacy of these threats.”<\/p>\n The bulletin includes screenshots of\u00a0posts concerning the protests from Facebook, Parler, Telegram and other social media sites (only one of which – Parler – was ‘canceled’ by big tech).<\/strong><\/p>\n “iCOP analysts are currently monitoring these social media channels for any potential threats stemming from the scheduled protests and will disseminate intelligence updates as needed,”\u00a0<\/strong>reads the bulletin.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.zerohedge.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/situational%20aware.PNG?itok=qcFGmdnF\")
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