(ConservativeJournal.org) – New details about a controversial FBI counterintelligence effort to monitor extremist Islamic statements on Facebook have surfaced. One of the agents involved in the investigation confessed to going through people’s Facebook posts 24/7 every day for months. According to reports, FBI agents visited Rolla Abdeljawad, a Muslim living in Oklahoma, to question her about anti-Israel comments made on Facebook. The visit has garnered controversy from free speech advocates.
Abdeljawad’s lawyer, Hassan Shibly, shared a video of the FBI visit to shed light on the rights of Americans who may find themselves in similar situations in the future. In the video, an FBI agent stated that screenshots of her posts were given to them by Facebook themselves. He claimed that they were not there to enforce anything, just to question.
Abdeljawad refused to speak to the FBI agents. She questioned their actions, asking if the US is actually a free country. She also called their visit unconstitutional. Another agent responded to her remarks in the video, reassuring her that the US is indeed a free country, and explaining that their visits were only routine to ensure safety.
The fact that the FBI received the tip directly from Facebook implies that they had accessed more than just her publicly posted comments. In her Facebook posts, Abdeljawad referred to Israel as “Israhell”. She also expressed concerns about government surveillance, which she ended up experiencing firsthand.
Shibly acknowledged the difficulty of pursuing a lawsuit against the FBI due to their investigative authority and many legal loopholes when it comes to Americans’ posts on social media. However, he highlighted that the US government’s surveillance has a detrimental effect on free speech, despite protections that are in the constitution.
Kayla McCleery, a representative for the FBI’s Oklahoma City office, initially declined to comment on the incident. However, after the story’s publication, McCleery sent a statement emphasizing the FBI’s commitment to protecting Americans while upholding constitutional rights.
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