Is The Post Office Monitoring Americans’ Social Media Posts? Some Republicans Are Raising Concerns

Is The Post Office Monitoring Americans’ Social Media Posts? Some Republicans Are Raising Concerns

Share to Linkedin Thirty House Republicans are calling for a briefing from the U. S. Postal Service's law enforcement branch on their reported tracking of Americans' social media posts“”particularly on right-wing platforms“”saying it's "baffling" and "troubling" the mail agency is reportedly conducting government surveillance. Yahoo News reported Wednesday the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) at the U. S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) "tracks and collects" social media posts, particularly about planned protests organized by those on the right through platforms like Parler and Telegram. The agency said they were monitoring for threats and would "disseminate intelligence updates as needed." Republicans on the House Oversight Committee including Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) wrote to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Thursday calling for a hearing with Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale by April 28 about the report. Monitoring social media posts should be done by other governmental intelligence agencies "if it is even necessary at all," the Republicans argued, describing iCOP's reported activities as "encroachment into the private lives of Americans." USPS has not yet responded to a request for comment about DeJoy's response to the lawmakers' letter. In an email to Forbes, USPIS did not confirm