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from the I-have-nothing-to-hide-...-right? dept.
Blackmoore writes:
Glen Greenwald at The Intercept has published another expose on how western intelligence agencies are attempting to control and manipulate online discourse.
The newest article from Greenwald is based around a document from JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group), a previously secret unit of Britan's GCHQ. Entitled "The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations", the document outlines tactics used to achieve JTRIG's purposes of (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable.
From the article: "The broader point is... these surveillance agencies have vested themselves with the power to deliberately ruin people's reputations and disrupt their online political activity even though they've been charged with no crimes, and even though their actions have no conceivable connection to terrorism or even national security threats."
(Score: 5, Insightful) by dmc on Wednesday February 26 2014, @10:12PM
What makes this news isn't that it is going on, or that people suspect it is going on- What makes this news is the EVIDENCE presumably leaked by Snowden. Credible evidence makes a world of difference in getting criminals to be held accountable for their crimes- especially those with government sanction.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Fluffeh on Wednesday February 26 2014, @10:25PM
When the first few documents came from the Snowden cache, I was excited. "Finally!" I thought, "Those bastards will get what's coming to them...". Now it just seems to be a slap in the face, sort of like them saying "Haha, look at all this shit we have pulled, and STILL you can't touch us and we aren't changing a damn thing!".
(Score: 3, Interesting) by dmc on Wednesday February 26 2014, @11:31PM
I agree. It certainly still seems at least plausible that the whole thing is orchestrated by the evil dirtbags. At some point they probably feel the need to leak some amount of it out so that the rest of society is half educated about modern tactics. They need to recruit their virtual thugs from the populace after all. But still, it is nice to feel less crazy. I actually strongly suspect I've been a victim of precisely these tactics. (my older brother is a vice president at google, and I'm an outlier when it comes to willingness to dissent and rabble rouse. Just last night I confessed to kansas.city@ic.fbi.gov about talking about gunning down NSA agents on a public net forum. A few months ago I confessed to them about cannabis cultivation in kansas. I appear to be in a traditional sense 'untouchable', though my persecution complex, or complex persecutions effectively leave me boxed. Like you said, bizarre revelations, but yet nothing much seems to change as far as the mainstream goes). I've also made several other death threats over the internet, and confessed to several other crimes. Allegedly within a week the local newspaper (ljworld.com) will be taking and publishing photos of my cannabis gardens. I already have been publicly documenting that for 2 years now. Somehow reading this newest document, particularly the bits about "divorcing behavior from outcome" see page 24 [firstlook.org] make me all but certain these tactics have been applied to me personally.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Sir Finkus on Wednesday February 26 2014, @11:52PM
We'll probably have some "reforms" at some point, but it seems like the erosion of civil liberties is a "two steps forward, ones step back" thing. I think we're past the point where the Snowden leaks are likely to have any real effect. Most people in the US simple don't seem to care that much, or even support the NSA's programs. Maybe international pressure may have an effect, but I'm not optimistic.
That all said, at least I gained a new politician bullshit detector. Whenever one of them says something like "I welcome the public debate on this issue" whatever comes out of their mouth next will be bullshit. It's a classic non-committal answer.