The Trump administration has launched a review of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) following concerns that the agency overstepped its original cybersecurity mission and began engaging in election-related censorship as detailed here.
CISA, which was established in 2018, quickly expanded its role to flag social media posts as “misinformation” and worked closely with Big Tech to suppress certain political viewpoints.
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that CISA’s election security initiatives, including its role in identifying what it labeled “mis- and disinformation,” are under review. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has indicated that the agency needs to be reined in, stating that it has drifted “far off mission.”
The media has responded with outrage. Politico claimed that Trump was “gutting cyber workers who combat disinformation,” while Wired framed the administration’s actions as an attempt to “accommodate President Donald Trump’s false claims.” VoteBeat suggested that election officials were worried about how CISA’s diminished role might impact election security.
Internal government documents have revealed that CISA played a direct role in influencing online speech. House Republicans found that the agency worked with the State Department’s Global Engagement Center and Stanford University to pressure platforms into removing content ahead of the 2020 election. The Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), a group created at the request of CISA, was tasked with identifying content for suppression — including posts that contained factual information presented in a way the agency deemed misleading.
During the Biden administration, CISA went even further, with then-director Jen Easterly arguing that the agency needed to protect Americans’ “cognitive infrastructure.” Reports also showed that the agency coordinated with Pennsylvania officials to monitor online election discussions, targeting speech that it considered a “threat.”
Trump’s administration has already taken action to curb federal censorship. One of his first executive orders instructed the Department of Justice to investigate government agencies that had engaged in censoring political speech. With CISA now under review, its future role in election security remains uncertain.
