Re: Revealed: U.S. Spy Operation That Manipulates Social Media

[Jeffrey Walton <noloader () gmail com>]

On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 10:17 PM, Paul Ferguson <fergdawgster () gmail com> wrote:
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> Via The Guardian.
>
> [snip]
>
> The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate
> social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter by using fake online
> personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American
> propaganda.
>
> A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States
> Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle
> East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona
> management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control
> up to 10 separate identities based all over the world.
This seems to be a popular topic. The Air Force was talking with
HBGary Federal for the same. See
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/black-ops-how-hbgary-wrote-backdoors-and-rootkits-for-the-government.ars
(page 4).

> The project has been likened by web experts to China's attempts to control
> and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain
> that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online
> conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or
> reports that do not correspond with its own objectives.
"The personas would appear to come from all over the world, ... and
influence public opinion in pro-US directions." (from ars technica
article).

> The discovery that the US military is developing false online personalities
> – known to users of social media as "sock puppets" – could also
> encourage other governments, private companies and non-government
> organisations to do the same.
"Could" or "Are"?

> More:
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-ne
> tworks
 [SNIP]

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