Misdiagnosing Extremism
Moonshot is working with DHS, along with at least a dozen U.S. states, to identify search terms and concepts linked with extremism. What constitutes "extreme" content for Moonshot's purposes is neither clear nor transparent, nor is the definition especially narrow: The organization is said to have compiled a list of some 20,000 terms that will trigger its ads. While Moonshot, DHS, and the search engines and social-media platforms involved know what these terms are, the user is given no warning; he is only made aware that a line has been crossed when he is encouraged to reach out to receive mental-health services.
A private entity undermining free-speech rights is cause for alarm in itself; that the government is working with private organizations to identify extremist-linked terms online without any transparency or accountability is of constitutional concern.
This Big Brother intervention at the behest of government chills the First Amendment rights of users targeted by Moonshot's ads. Having received the ad indicates to the user not only that he is being watched by the search engine or social-media platform, but that he has also been flagged as having mental-health issues.
https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/misdiagnosing-extremism