Speaking at a campaign rally on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton called for security officials to begin screening the social media accounts of prospective immigrants for extremist content related to the Islamic State.
“Our security professionals need to more effectively track and analyze ISIS’ social media posts and map Jihadist networks, and they need help from the tech community,” Clinton said during an appearance in Minneapolis.
“Companies should redouble their efforts to maintain and enforce their own service agreements and other necessary policies to police their networks, [identify] extremist content, and [remove] it,” she added. “Many are already doing this. Sharing those best practices more widely is important.”
Reports published on Monday indicated that the Obama administration had prohibited immigration officials from screening the social media of applicants, even after officials pushed for that policy to change in early 2014. It was also discovered that Tashfeen Malik, one of the perpetrators in a Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., had posted extremist content on her accounts before immigrating to the U.S. from Pakistan.
Clinton also voiced support for a proposal to ban gun sales to those listed on no-fly lists.
“Even as we make sure law enforcement officials get the tools they need to prevent attacks, it’s essential that Jihadists don’t get the tools they need to carry out attacks,” she added. “It defies common sense that Republicans in Congress refuse to make it harder for potential terrorists to buy guns.”
That provoked an immediate reaction on Twitter from Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich. “It defies the Constitution that you refuse due process to people who are denied rights using secret criteria,” Amash said.
It defies the Constitution that you refuse due process to people who are denied rights using secret criteria. https://t.co/4eA3wE14NS
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 15, 2015
Amash has been an outspoken opponent of both the gun ban proposal and no-fly lists in general. “Putting someone on no-fly list without due process and infringing on someone’s right to keep & bear arms without due process are both wrong,” he said in a Dec. 6 Twitter post.
