The United States Postal Inspection Service has been monitoring social media accounts for activity surrounding planned protests. The monitoring is part of an operation called Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP). University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone said that “It’s a mystery” why the USPS is monitoring for national security threats rather than the FBI or DHS.
The USPS’s program raises other concerns as well. While it appears that the program is supposed to discover misuse of the postal system, this goes far beyond that. One expert said, “If [individuals are] simply engaging in lawfully protected speech, even if it’s odious or objectionable, then monitoring them on that basis raises serious constitutional concerns.” Other federal agencies have also engaged social media companies directly to monitor user posts.
