{"id":17622,"date":"2012-02-27T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T12:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=17622"},"modified":"2015-03-09T16:44:49","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T16:44:49","slug":"top-social-media-websites-caught-censoring-controversial-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2012\/02\/top-social-media-websites-caught-censoring-controversial-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Social Media Websites Caught Censoring Controversial Content"},"content":{"rendered":"

Censorship by Top Social Media Websites<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facebook pays low-wage foreign workers to delete certain content based upon a censorship list<\/a>. For example, it deletes accounts created by Palestinian resistance groups.<\/p>\n

Digg was caught censoring stories which were controversial or too critical of the government. See this<\/a> and this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, even social media site Reddit \u2013 which helped launch the anti-Sopa Internet blackout and publicize GoDaddy\u2019s slimy Sopa support \u2013 is doing the same thing.<\/p>\n

As just one example, posts from this website are being censored by Reddit. Specifically, a friend of this site who has submitted stories to Reddit has received the following messages of rejection from a Reddit moderator named davidreiss666:<\/p>\n

from davidreiss666<\/a> via \/r\/worldnews\/<\/strong><\/p>\n

WashingtonBlog is not something we consider a good source for r\/Worldnews.<\/p>\n

from davidreiss666<\/a> via \/r\/worldnews\/<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please submit that story from an alternate domain. Thank you.<\/p>\n

And another moderator named Maxion:<\/p>\n

from Maxion<\/a> via \/r\/worldnews\/<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am sorry but this submission is not appropriate for this subreddit.<\/p>\n

There are certainly also more open-minded moderators at Reddit. But a couple of censors can squash discussion on entire topics.<\/p>\n

Why Are They Censoring?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why are they censoring?<\/p>\n

Well, censorship is rampant<\/a> in America \u2026 and social media has grown so big that it has become a target as well.<\/p>\n

In addition, as I pointed out<\/a> last year [for ease of reading, we’ll skip indentation]:<\/p>\n

Wired reported<\/a> on Friday:<\/p>\n

The Pentagon is looking to build a tool to sniff out social media propaganda campaigns and spit some counter-spin right back at it.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Defense Department extreme technology arm Darpa unveiled its Social Media in Strategic Communication<\/a> (SMISC) program. It\u2019s an attempt to get better at both detecting and conducting propaganda campaigns on social media<\/strong>. SMISC has two goals. First, the program needs to help the military better understand what\u2019s going on in social media in real time \u2014 particularly in areas where troops are deployed. Second, Darpa wants SMISC to help the military play the social media propaganda game itself<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This is more than just checking the trending topics on Twitter. The Defense Department wants to deeply grok social media dynamics. So SMISC algorithms will be aimed at discovering and tracking the \u201cformation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes)\u201d on social media, according to Darpa\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

SMISC needs to be able to seek out \u201cpersuasion campaign structures and influence operations\u201d developing across the social sphere. SMISC is supposed to quickly flag rumors and emerging themes on social media, figure out who\u2019s behind it and what. Moreover, Darpa wants SMISC to be able to actually figure out whether this is a random product of the hivemind or a propaganda operation by an adversary nation or group.<\/p>\n

Of course, SMISC won\u2019t be content to just to hang back and monitor social media trends in strategic locations. It\u2019s about building a better spin machine for Uncle Sam<\/strong>, too. Once SMISC\u2019s latches on to an influence operation being launched, it\u2019s supposed to help out in \u201ccountermessaging.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

SMISC is yet another example of how the military is becoming very interested in what\u2019s going on in the social media sphere.<\/p>\n

Indeed, as I wrote<\/a> in February:<\/p>\n

I noted<\/a> in 2009, in an article entitled \u201cDoes The Government Manipulate Social Media?\u201d:<\/p>\n

The U.S. government long ago announced its intention to \u201cfight the net\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As revealed by an official Pentagon report signed by Rumsfeld called \u201cInformation Operations Roadmap\u201d:<\/p>\n

The roadmap [contains an] acknowledgement that information put out as part of the military\u2019s psychological operations, or Psyops, is finding its way onto the computer and television screens of ordinary Americans.<\/p>\n

\u201cInformation intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and Psyops, is increasingly consumed by our domestic audience,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cPsyops messages will often be replayed by the news media for much larger audiences, including the American public,\u201d it goes on.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cStrategy should be based on the premise that the Department [of Defense] will \u2018fight the net\u2019 as it would an enemy weapons system\u201d.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the Pentagon publicly announced<\/a> years ago that it was considering using \u201cblack propaganda\u201d \u2013 in other words, knowing lies.<\/p>\n

CENTCOM announced in 2008 that a team of employees would be \u201c[engaging] bloggers who are posting inaccurate or untrue information, as well as bloggers who are posting incomplete information.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The Air Force<\/a> is now also engaging bloggers. Indeed, an Air Force spokesman said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe obviously have many more concerns regarding cyberspace than a typical Social Media user,\u201d Capt. Faggard says. \u201cI am concerned with how insurgents or potential enemies can use Social Media to their advantage. It\u2019s our role to provide a clear and accurate, completely truthful and transparent picture for any audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, the government is targeting \u201csocial media\u201d, including popular user-ranked news sites.<\/p>\n

In addition, when you look at what the Israeli lobby has done with Megaphone software to automatically vote stories questioning Israel down and to send pro-Israel letters to politicians and media (see this<\/a>, this<\/a> and this<\/a>), you can start to see how the U.S. military \u2013 an even larger and better-funded organization \u2013 could substantially influence voting on social news sites with very little effort.<\/p>\n

Moreover,the military has outsourced many projects to private contractors. For example, in Iraq, much of the fighting has been outsourced to Blackwater. And governmental intelligence functions have largely been outsourced to private companies.<\/a><\/p>\n

It is therefore not impossible that the government is hiring cheap labor to downvote stories on the social media sites which question the government, and to post pro-government comments.<\/p>\n

(other governments and large companies \u201castroturf\u201d online as well. See this<\/a>, this<\/a> and this<\/a>.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

I pointed out the same month:<\/p>\n

Government propagandists, their hired private contractors and useful idiots are creating \u201cdownvote bots\u201d or scripts to bury stories which question the government.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

One free, simple scripting program to create automatic downvotes of certain topics or news posters is called \u201cGreasemonkey\u201d, which is commonly used on large social news sites such as Reddit.<\/p>\n

For example, there are some 2,480 hits \u2026 for the google search site:reddit.com greasemonkey downvote<\/a>. This is some 2,480 times that Reddit users are publicly admitting<\/em> to using greasemonkey (see also this<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Propaganda agents obviously aren\u2019t going to publicly brag about what they are doing, and you can bet that their use of downvote bots is much greater. Moreover, they probably have more sophisticated software than Greasemonkey.<\/p>\n

Today, Raw Story reports<\/a> that the Air Force ordered software to manage army of fake virtual people:<\/p>\n

Internet users would be well advised to ask another question entirely: Are my \u201cfriends\u201d even real people?<\/p>\n

In the continuing saga of data security firm HBGary, a new caveat has come to light: not only did they plot to help destroy secrets outlet WikiLeaks and discredit progressive bloggers, they also crafted detailed proposals for software that manages online \u201cpersonas,\u201d allowing a single human to assume the identities of as many fake people as they\u2019d like.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The revelation was among those contained in the company\u2019s emails, which were dumped onto bittorrent networks after hackers with cyber protest group \u201cAnonymous\u201d broke into their systems.<\/p>\n

In another document unearthed by \u201cAnonymous,\u201d one of HBGary\u2019s employees also mentioned gaming geolocation services to make it appear as though selected fake persons were at actual events. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas,\u201d it said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Government involvement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eerie as that may be, more perplexing, however, is a federal contract<\/a> from the 6th Contracting Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, located south of Tampa, Florida, that solicits providers of \u201cpersona management software.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there are certainly legitimate applications for such software, such as managing multiple \u201cofficial\u201d social media accounts from a single input, the more nefarious potential is clear.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Air Force\u2019s contract description doesn\u2019t help dispel their suspicions either. As the text explains, the software would require licenses for 50 users with 10 personas each, for a total of 500. These personas would have to be \u201creplete with background , history, supporting details, and cyber presences that are technically, culturally and geographacilly consistent.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

It continues, noting the need for secure virtual private networks that randomize the operator\u2019s Internet protocol (IP) address, making it impossible to detect that it\u2019s a single person orchestrating all these posts<\/strong>. Another entry calls for static IP address management for each persona, making it appear as though each fake person was consistently accessing from the same computer each time.<\/p>\n

The contract also sought methods to anonymously establish virtual private servers with private hosting firms in specific geographic locations. This would allow that server\u2019s \u201cgeosite\u201d to be integrated with their social media profiles, effectively gaming geolocation services.<\/p>\n

The Air Force added that the \u201cplace of performance\u201d for the contract would be at MacDill Air Force Base, along with Kabul, Afghanistan and Baghdad. The contract was offered on June 22, 2010.<\/p>\n

It was not clear exactly what the Air Force was doing with this software, or even if it had been procured.<\/p>\n

Manufacturing consent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though many questions remain about how the military would apply such technology, the reasonable fear should be perfectly clear. \u201cPersona management software\u201d can be used to manipulate public opinion on key information, such as news reports. An unlimited number of virtual \u201cpeople\u201d could be marshaled by only a few real individuals, empowering them to create the illusion of consensus.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

That\u2019s precisely what got DailyKos blogger Happy Rockefeller in a snit<\/a>: the potential for military-run armies of fake people manipulating and, in some cases, even manufacturing the appearance of public opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know about you, but it matters to me what fellow progressives think,\u201d the blogger wrote. \u201cI consider all views. And if there appears to be a consensus that some reporter isn\u2019t credible, for example, or some candidate for congress in another state can\u2019t be trusted, I won\u2019t base my entire judgment on it, but it carries some weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s me. I believe there are many people though who will base their judgment on rumors and mob attacks. And for those people, a fake mob can be really effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cTeam Themis\u201d [tasked by the Chamber<\/a> of Commerce to come up with strategies for responding to progressive bloggers and others] also included a proposal<\/a> to use malware hacks against progressive organizations, and the submission of fake documents in an effort to discredit established groups.<\/p>\n

HBGary was also behind a plot by Bank of America to destroy WikiLeaks\u2019 technology platform, other emails revealed. The company was humiliated by members of \u201cAnonymous\u201d<\/a> after CEO Aaron Barr bragged that he\u2019d \u201cinfiltrated\u201d the group.<\/p>\n

And see this<\/a>, this<\/a>, this<\/a>, this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Postscript: Gaming social media is only one propaganda technique employed by the government:<\/em><\/p>\n