FBI mosque investigations caused congregations to moderate their own leadership

Evidence

Since the 9/11 attacks, the FBI has run massive counterterrorism investigations in greater Detroit, sending special agents into mosques and interviewing religious leaders and laypeople. As a result, many immigrant congregations have undergone what can only be described as strategic Americanization campaigns, revamping their boards, replacing older, conservative, Arabic-speaking members with younger, moderate, American-educated professionals, and making a concerted effort to introduce themselves to the larger society through open houses and da`wa (missionary and teaching) events. Self-policing is now the norm. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 684

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly illustrates surveillance-induced self-policing of religious communities, a dynamic parallel to self-censorship patterns, giving concrete evidence for how external scrutiny disciplines internal speech.