PolitiFact: Terrorism bulletin not attempt to criminalize free speech, despite claim

03.31.2022 / By Jeff Cercone
PolitiFact: Terrorism bulletin not attempt to criminalize free speech, despite claim

"We've seen real-life harm caused by election disinformation," said Jesse Littlewood, vice president for campaigns with Common Cause, a voter advocacy group. He cited the Capitol attack. "It is abundantly clear that we live in a time of increased threats of violence against election officials and poll workers fueled by election disinformation and conspiracy theories and like a pile of dry kindling it only takes a spark to ignite real world violence," Littlewood wrote in an email.

The Biden administration is attempting “to criminalize free speech.”
– Sarah Palin stated on March 25, 2022 in a Facebook post

FALSE

A recent terrorism bulletin from the federal government warned that false information about election fraud and COVID-19 is contributing to a heightened threat of domestic extremist attacks.

Some are using that February document to falsely claim that President Joe Biden is trying to criminalize free speech.

A Facebook post by former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin shows a video with the caption, “Sen. Blackburn exposes the Biden admin’s attempt to criminalize free speech.” The video shows a speech delivered on the Senate floor by Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.

“We’ve seen real-life harm caused by election disinformation,” said Jesse Littlewood, vice president for campaigns with Common Cause, a voter advocacy group. He cited the Capitol attack. (The Common Cause Education Fund has provided financial support to PolitiFact.)

“It is abundantly clear that we live in a time of increased threats of violence against election officials and poll workers fueled by election disinformation and conspiracy theories and like a pile of dry kindling it only takes a spark to ignite real world violence,” Littlewood wrote in an email.

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