Feds are tracking Americans' social media to spot dangerous conspiracies. Critics worry for civil liberties

 Feds are tracking Americans' social media to spot dangerous conspiracies. Critics worry for civil liberties

Since 2018, a minimum of three supremacist mass shooters in America have mentioned the “Great Replacement” theory, a conspiracy claim that White race are being replaced within the U.S. et al. by immigrants of color.

That’s the narrative Robert Bowers alluded to on social media before killing 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. Patrick Crusius, who killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso , Texas, but a year later, was inspired by the racist trope. So was John Earnest, who killed one person and injured three others during a shooting in Poway, California.

"This is so we will have a greater understanding of the threat environment because it evolves then think through what steps we will take, working with state and native authorities and community groups to mitigate the danger posed by those threats," a senior Homeland Security official said in an interview. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity so as to freely discuss the program.

"This effort could provide a clue about something thematically — kind of a mood or a sentiment that's out there, except for the foremost part, it isn't getting to point you within the direction of specific plots," said Javed Ali, senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council in 2017 and 2018.

"I saw the results of this industry explosion post-9/11 when everyone was a world terrorism expert," he said, "and if we're not careful, we're getting to do an equivalent dumb thing on terrorism ."

That's what happened after 9/11, when Muslim communities within the U.S. found themselves under illegal surveillance from enforcement , and dozens of foreign nationals were arrested and imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for quite a decade without being charged with a criminal offense .

"The government goes to possess to forge some good relationships with experts in order that they do not make mistakes like they made after 9/11," Beirich said. "I worry about all of that."