DOGE AI monitors US government, sparking legal concerns
DOGE, associated with Elon Musk, is reportedly using artificial intelligence to monitor the communications of U.S. government employees, as reported by Reuters. According to these reports, DOGE is intended to check whether administration employees are speaking negatively about Donald Trump's presidency.
The DOGE team, operating within the Trump administration, is responsible for monitoring communication within federal agencies, using artificial intelligence to detect hostility towards the president and his policies. This technology raises serious ethical and legal concerns as it may violate regulations regarding the storage of government documents, Reuters states.
Expert says it's illegal
Kathleen Clark, a government ethics specialist at Washington University, explained that failing to preserve all messages in federal records while using the Signal app would constitute illegal conduct.
Moreover, the use of artificial intelligence to monitor communication for "anti-Trump" or "anti-Musk" signals raises questions about the abuse of power, as well as the extent to which such actions could be used to pursue political opponents, the report states.
Particularly within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it was noted that officials have been informed that DOGE uses AI to monitor communications and search for hostile comments. Reuters sources indicate that such actions could be considered as attempts to suppress inconvenient voices and violate employees' rights to freedom of speech.
Additionally, the use of tools like Google Docs for document work, without proper verification mechanisms, raises concerns about the transparency of administrative processes and compliance with government documentation regulations. According to expert Clark, this appears to be a misuse of governmental authority aimed at restricting or discouraging speech that the U.S. president finds unfavorable.
Clark added that these actions could lead to the suppression of freedom of speech within the government, posing a threat to democratic processes.
