U.S. gov't tracks civilians' social media activity: American Civil Liberties Union

NEW YORK, April 28: The Biden administration has been quietly deploying and expanding programs that surveil what people say on social media, using tools that allow agents and analysts to invisibly monitor the vast amount of protected speech that occurs online, said American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in an article published on its website on Monday.

"For years, these kinds of tools have been increasingly used for a range of controversial law enforcement and intelligence purposes. But some of the most troubling programs continuously monitor the social media posts of non-citizens to decide who gets to live, study, or stay in the United States," said the report.

"Given the trove of information available online, social media surveillance threatens our rights to speak freely and live without fear of constant government scrutiny," it noted.

Through ongoing lawsuit, the ACLU has obtained documents showing that a wide range of government agencies are monitoring and retaining the speech of U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike, whether or not those individuals are suspected of any criminal wrongdoing, it said.

"Agencies continue to pour millions of dollars into technology that enables this sustained tracking of social media activity," it added.