discussion post

The USA Freedom Act renewed most of the powers of the PATRIOT ACT, with greater FISA oversight. The Constitution limits government power and will ultimately be involved in terrorism, law enforcement, and intelligence gathering legislation. Executive power, including law enforcement, will remain limited in our American democracy. The White House is pushing Congress to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before its expiration at the end of this year. U.S. intelligence officials say Section 702 enables investigations of Chinese and Russian espionage, potential terrorist plots, and other threats.

But spy agencies also end up capturing the communications of U.S. citizens and businesses, and a series of intelligence mistakes at the FBI has fanned bipartisan criticism of the bureau that has shaped the debate over renewing the law. Some lawmakers in both parties and civil liberties groups have called for stronger curbs on how the FBI uses foreign surveillance to search for Americans’ data.

The above questions are “prompts” just to get you thinking. You are not limited to just these prompts.

Do you believe Section 702 of the FISA should be renewed?

Do you believe law enforcement agencies are collecting too much information beyond criminal intelligence?

The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board says the FBI made “inappropriate use” at times of Section 702 information. Do you believe the PATRIOT ACT violates the Fourth Amendment by allowing the government to access the private information of US citizens?

Should the FBI or NSA be able to monitor our cell phones and e-mail without probable cause?

Should governmental agencies be allowed to control information from media outlets like Facebook and Twitter? Meta (Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed he was told to "censor" posts. He cited specifically posts about Covid. Posts that ended up being true.