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You Know Those Obnoxious Posters Who Almost Seem Like Alter Egos Of The Same Person? They Actually Might Be ...
I noted in 2009, in an article entitled "Does The Government Manipulate Social Media?":
The U.S. government long ago announced its intention to "fight the net".
As revealed by an official Pentagon report signed by Rumsfeld called "Information Operations Roadmap":
The roadmap [contains an] acknowledgement that information put out as
part of the military's psychological operations, or Psyops, is finding
its way onto the computer and television screens of ordinary Americans.
"Information intended for foreign audiences, including public
diplomacy and Psyops, is increasingly consumed by our domestic
audience," it reads.
"Psyops messages will often be replayed by
the news media for much larger audiences, including the American
public," it goes on.
***
"Strategy
should be based on the premise that the Department [of Defense] will
'fight the net' as it would an enemy weapons system".Indeed, the Pentagon publicly announced years ago that it was considering using "black propaganda" - in other words, knowing lies.
CENTCOM announced in 2008 that a team of employees would be "[engaging]
bloggers who are posting inaccurate or untrue information, as well as
bloggers who are posting incomplete information."
The Air Force is now also engaging bloggers. Indeed, an Air Force spokesman said:
"We
obviously have many more concerns regarding cyberspace than a typical
Social Media user," Capt. Faggard says. "I am concerned with how
insurgents or potential enemies can use Social Media to their advantage.
It's our role to provide a clear and accurate, completely truthful and
transparent picture for any audience."In other words, the government is targeting "social media", including popular user-ranked news sites.
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, this and this),
you can start to see how the U.S. military - an even larger and
better-funded organization - could substantially influence voting on
social news sites with very little effort.
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.
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.
(other governments and large companies "astroturf" online as well. See this, this and this.)
I pointed out the same month:
Government
propagandists, their hired private contractors and useful idiots are
creating "downvote bots" or scripts to bury stories which question the
government.
***
One free, simple scripting program to
create automatic downvotes of certain topics or news posters is called
"Greasemonkey", which is commonly used on large social news sites such
as Reddit.
For example, there are some 2,480 hits [now past 9,000] for the google search site:reddit.com greasemonkey downvote. This is some 2,480 times that Reddit users are publicly admitting to using greasemonkey (see also this).
Propaganda
agents obviously aren't 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.
Today, Raw Story reports that the Air Force ordered software to manage army of fake virtual people:
Internet users would be well advised to ask another question entirely: Are my "friends" even real people?
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 "personas,"
allowing a single human to assume the identities of as many fake people
as they'd like.
The revelation was among those contained
in the company's emails, which were dumped onto bittorrent networks
after hackers with cyber protest group "Anonymous" broke into their
systems.
In another document unearthed by "Anonymous," one of HBGary's employees also mentioned gaming geolocation services to make it appear as though selected fake persons were at actual events.
"There are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas," it said.
Government involvement
Eerie as that may be, more perplexing, however, is a federal contract
from the 6th Contracting Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, located
south of Tampa, Florida, that solicits providers of "persona management
software."
While there are certainly legitimate applications for
such software, such as managing multiple "official" social media
accounts from a single input, the more nefarious potential is clear.
Unfortunately, the Air Force's contract description doesn't 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 "replete with
background , history, supporting details, and cyber presences that are
technically, culturally and geographacilly consistent."
It continues, noting the need for secure virtual private networks that randomize
the operator's Internet protocol (IP) address, making it impossible to
detect that it's a single person orchestrating all these posts.
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.
The contract also sought
methods to anonymously establish virtual private servers with private
hosting firms in specific geographic locations. This would allow that
server's "geosite" to be integrated with their social media profiles,
effectively gaming geolocation services.
The Air Force added
that the "place of performance" for the contract would be at MacDill
Air Force Base, along with Kabul, Afghanistan and Baghdad. The contract
was offered on June 22, 2010.
It was not clear exactly what the Air Force was doing with this software, or even if it had been procured.
Manufacturing consent
Though
many questions remain about how the military would apply such
technology, the reasonable fear should be perfectly clear. "Persona
management software" can be used to manipulate public opinion on key
information, such as news reports. An unlimited number of virtual
"people" could be marshaled by only a few real individuals, empowering
them to create the illusion of consensus.
***
That's precisely what got DailyKos blogger Happy Rockefeller in a snit:
the potential for military-run armies of fake people manipulating and,
in some cases, even manufacturing the appearance of public opinion.
"I
don't know about you, but it matters to me what fellow progressives
think," the blogger wrote. "I consider all views. And if there appears
to be a consensus that some reporter isn't credible, for example, or
some candidate for congress in another state can't be trusted, I won't
base my entire judgment on it, but it carries some weight.
"That's
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."
***
"Team Themis" [tasked by the Chamber to come up with strategies for responding to progressive bloggers and others] also included a proposal
to use malware hacks against progressive organizations, and the
submission of fake documents in an effort to discredit established
groups.
HBGary was also behind a plot by Bank of America to destroy
WikiLeaks' technology platform, other emails revealed. The company was humiliated by members of "Anonymous" after CEO Aaron Barr bragged that he'd "infiltrated" the group.
Gaming social media is only one propaganda technique employed by the government:
- Famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein says the CIA has already bought and paid for many successful journalists
- The New York Times discusses in a matter-of-fact way the use of mainstream writers by the CIA to spread messages
- A 4-part BBC documentary
called the "Century of the Self" shows that an American - Freud's
nephew, Edward Bernays - created the modern field of manipulation of
public perceptions, and the U.S. government has extensively used his
techniques
- The Independent discusses allegations of American propaganda
- And one of the premier writers on journalism says the U.S. has used widespread propaganda
»
- advertisements -
They were doing this, big time, while the first bailout was being argued about.
The big journalists ARE on their payrolls, or owe them other 'debts.'
The journalists are on their payrolls only in the general meaning of the term.
'Journalists' get a paycheck from their media conglomerate that keeps them alive. If they want to keep getting those paychecks, they toe the line with their editor, who sucks up to the publisher.
The publisher is either a minion of the world owners, or might even be a minor player. So the orders roll downhill. The employees either "do their jobs" or find themselves looking for another one.
Once we get past the idea of an independent 'journalist' writing the real truth about a story, we start to understand how 'journalism' works.
Screw it up big time with too much 'truth' at the NYT or WSJ and you're suddenly out of the 6 figure salary, editing a daily in Buttplugg, Montana.
Not only do journalist fear for their jobs, but also for their lives.
In the same way as the revolving door between the U.S. government and the arms industry, a revolving door operates between the CIA and the mass media.
-CIA Director Richard Helms was a United Press International correspondent.
-CIA Director William Casey was the major shareholder of the owner of the ABC television network, Capital Cities.
-Journalists Edward R. Murrow and Carl Rowan both worked as Directors of the CIA front U.S. Information Agency.
-NBC news anchor John Chancellor was a director of the CIA’s radio propaganda network, Voice of America.
-CBS Vice President Joseph H. Ream is a former deputy director of the National Security Agency (NSA).
Outside the U.S., the CIA has en extraordinary web of media assets with which to deceive, manipulate and misinform the people of the world. Among the more important CIA fronts are/were:
-Radio Free Europe
-Radio Liberty (Cuba)
-Radio Free Asia.
Among the newspaper and magazine fronts are:
-Prevves (France)
-Der Monat (Germany)
-El Mundo Nuevo (Latin America)
-Quiet and Thought (India)
-Argumenten (Sweden)
-La Prensa (Nicaragua).
................................................................
1947-ongoing:
The CIA, working with U.S.-compliant covert warfare agencies in Western Europe creates Operation Gladio.
After NATO is formed in 1949, it takes over responsibility for Gladio.
Operatives recruited under Gladio, the so-called Gladiators, are responsible for numerous acts of terrorism throughout Europe for almost half a century, foremost of which is the bombing of the railway station in Bologna, Italy in 1980 in which eighty six people are murdered by the CIA's proxies.
With the help of the tame mass media, the European public is convinced that the CIA-sponsored terrorist acts are being carried out by evil terrorists: (nee commies/socialists).
The idea is to keep the population perpetually in fear of a mythical terror: (nee Soviet invasion) while, at the same time, discrediting leftist electoral candidates.
If a left-leaning party were to come to power in any NATO country, it might pass legislation which would be a threat to U.S. military installations or operations.
We can't be havin' none of that.
You mean you can get paid to do this?
http://investmentunderground.com/writers-wanted/
Trolls are trolls.. try not to feed them, government variety or any other type.
If you must engage them, insult their genitals, remix them on youtube and/or turn loose a counter troll on one of them. Trolls trolling trolls... it's wacky fun.
Captain Faggard...
I'm sure he's targeting more than social media.
Isn't it a bitch, Faggard, when alternative media gives the sheeple real information?
Corporations and other organizations have already been hiring PR firms (such as Bivings) to troll blog sites for them.
?(leave aside the arguable claim about "libertarians" doing it, the concerns raised by the article remains valid)
http://www.alternet.org/media/149197/are_right-wing_libertarian_internet_trolls_getting_paid_to_dumb_down_online_conversations/?page=1“I first came across online astroturfing in 2002, when the investigators Andy Rowell and Jonathan Matthews looked into a series of comments made by two people calling themselves Mary Murphy and Andura Smetacek. They had launched ferocious attacks, across several internet forums, against a scientist whose research suggested that Mexican corn had been widely contaminated by GM pollen.
Rowell and Matthews found that one of the messages Mary Murphy had sent came from a domain owned by the Bivings Group, a PR company specializing in internet lobbying.”
[the Bivings Group has been described as the '20th Largest Public Relations Firm in the Washington Metro]
“I first came across online astroturfing in 2002..."
My first encounter with the term "astroturfing" was in connection with David Axelrod.
eeewwww.
- Ned
LOL.
Well, the truth hurts...some people...see BI above ;-)
Do they making matching 401k contributions? What about healthcare? Is it by the hour? by the post? or keystrokes?
Thanks in advance for the inside info.
Well, isn't that special...is that the new marching orders?
Let's get something straight here BI.
I don't like you, I never have. You don't like me, I'm crushed...LOL...but I'll be over it by the time I hit save on this post.
You appear here, with ridiculous anti-semitic ramblings, barely able to contain your rage against a people you have never met. And yet, somehow, you disregard the bondage of millions of Arabs for centuries and never comment on that, outside of some vague use of the word "western style democracy" which they have no concept of, yet.
You appear here saying (alternately) the CIA, joos, George Bush, Cheney, the Illuminati, trans-gendered microbiologists or whatever, was behind 911 when the facts say it was jihadists & incompetence of a government agency that handled their visa's. Again, it almost seems as though you might be hiding something.
You appear here bitching about a government (that would be us, the USA) you are unwilling or unable to change...however you rant and rave about the Tea Party who are trying to change the government you squawk about constantly without bloodshed...teabaggers I believe is the term most widely used by your kind...well we have one for the cowards who fled the jobs they are paid to do jobs in Wisconsin...fleebaggers...isn't that catchy?
You appear here, to add voice to unproven theories, conspiracies and general gossip, like an ordinary gadfly.
We have nothing in common...lets keep it that way.
meh
rage against a people you have never met.
Who would that be nmewn? You?
...whatever, was behind 911 when the facts say it was jihadists
Epic fail for your small mind right there nmewn.
Again, it almost seems as though you might be hiding something.
Do tell. What has your little mind dreamt up?
...however you rant and rave about the Tea Party
Where? When? Try nowhere nmewn. I have talked about attempts to hijack the TP and put Sarah Palin at the head. I think that's pretty funny. Don't you?
You appear here, to add voice to unproven theories, conspiracies and general gossip.
I post links to back up my points all the time nmewn. Where's yours? Link to an example. Do you know how to do that? Be a sport and show me an anti-semitic rambling for instance. I want to be entertained. Tell us who you really are nmewn.
Oh, I see your partner in crime laosuwan is here to egg you on. Remember nmewn, you're known by the [in this case idiotic] company you keep.
Ask laosuwan how his phony beheaded uncle is doing or as he claims to be Thai, ask him to translate his name into English ... If you want a good laugh that it is.
Face it nmewn, you're here to keep a lid on things. Laosuwan is your homey. You're laosuwan's bitch. What a fool.
You make your self out to be the fool like this and laosuwan's gonna demand his money back.
anytime you get your tutoring job back in bangkok you pm me and I will meet you and we can talk in thai about my uncle face to face, cunt.
Hey another internet-tough-guy. Just please try to translate your laosuwan-handle one more time you putz.
I had to sit next to fucks like you as an undergrad in california and now I have to see you farang scum back home. Some of you are ok, even good, but the low ones like you make me sick when you come here and act like the nutcases you are. Normally I try to ignore you annoying fucks but in your casee when you keep messing with my family history I am telling you I will make an exception. if you are in Thailand you contact me at laosuwan6@doglover.com and we will meet at Suan Luang and I will answer any questions you have. I am telling you the day is coming once we get our stupid corrupt police in line the tolerance for your kind will be over and you will be out but in your case I will make an exception and show you the fury your fucking with us will unleash right now, cunt.
By the way, this is the formal spelling of gold, you stupid cunt.
http://translate.google.com/#th|en|%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%93
I had to sit next to fucks like you as an undergrad in california and now I have to see you farang scum back home. Some of you are ok, even good, but the low ones like you make me sick when you come here and act like the nutcases you are. Normally I try to ignore you annoying fucks but in your casee when you keep messing with my family history I am telling you I will make an exception. if you are in Thailand you contact me at laosuwan6@doglover.com and we will meet at Suan Luang and I will answer any questions you have. I am telling you the day is coming once we get our stupid corrupt police in line the tolerance for your kind will be over and you will be out but in your case I will make an exception and show you the fury your fucking with us will unleash right now, cunt.
By the way, this is the formal spelling of gold, you stupid cunt.
http://translate.google.com/#th|en|%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%93
Bring It:
nmewn = 9/11MORON
You got that right.
For such a smart guy he sure is childish to believe in Secret-CIA-Santa-Osama and his Merry Band of 19 Jihadist Elves and all their magic powers on that Special Day.
You fucktards are amazing.
I suppose the ruptured utility lines as well as actual structural damage in WT7 had nothing to do with it's collapse? What part of the narration of events as they unfolded did you miss?
The firefighters saying stay the hell away from WT7 because it's on fire due to ruptured fuel lines and it's unsafe for even us to get close to or I & II beginning to collapse at exactly the point where the aircraft hit?
Amazing...simply amazing.
How many revisions of "fact" have those douche bag college kids who started all this 911 trutherism crap up to now...10-20?...I've lost count.
Fire not hot enough to further weaken already damaged steel supports...nope.
Pilotless aircraft...nope.
Mossad suicide pilots...nope.
Cell phones cannot function...nope.
The hijacked victims talking on cell phones to the ground were faked...nope.
And my personal favorite, Mossad voice to skull recognition software that must have been installed on the communications grid, disregarding the simple fact no one would know who would be on the planes or called till after ticket purchase and boarding...nope...LOL.
C4 demolition...nope.
Nano-explosives...nope, the buildings started collapsing at the point of impact, a jihadist amatuer pilot feat of remarkable flying skill and dexterity to go in right there where the demolition charges had been pre-planted...ROTFLMAO!!!
Carry on, I breathlessly await the next revision to the conspiracy plot line that would have had to include hundreds if not thousands of people seeding the ground around the site with the DNA of terrorist and victim alike...more popcorn please.
You seem EXTREMELY well-informed. I can tell by your use of BOLDFACE and the word fucktards.
MayIMomma - Look at how well referenced his stream of consiousness rant is.
I wonder if he really believes his own BS?
2 Planes. 3 Buildings.
A plane went down without attacking, a building went down with out being attacked.
Dappers new bumper sticker.
They're just THAT GOOD!
Nicely said.
+1000
I do worry that the charge of professional trolling and astroturfing is quickly brought up when someone disagrees with an argument.
Since we're all adults here and, even more important, presumably all share a strong appreciation of business systems, media, and the like, I can't believe that anybody is genuinely unable to wrap their minds around that proposition.
The denials seem inexplicable. We teach our children better understanding of the web than that. I bet you do, too.
charges, doubtless, brought up by "professional" trolls.
That's one consequence of government surveillance. That's one reason why they don't even have to watch everyone, all the time. People can't know who is legitimate, who is reporting to the government, and eventually become fearful or disinclined to speak their mind.
Natives are restless, Hlllary, quick, send out the cyber goons.
They hate our freedoms and "friends."
I would be concerned if the military didn't use psyops...
so you are the pathetic chicken little who sees terrorists everywhere. you deserve freedom nor liberty. actually im finding it hard to figure out what use or value you have in this world other than sucking off the goverment welfare tit and sittin your fat couch potato ass in front of the tv watchin faux news. shit i still dont see the value
Hmmm...is gorillaonyourback really just a Hal 2000 with beta Watson software at a small AFB?
Very compelling post. Bravo.
i see the value in the ar15, cuz when some lib, comy, terrorist comes to your house he take your ar15 and shove it sideways up your ass. lolololol
What if Psyops are being used to stifle free speech and to destroy the concept of America envisioned by the Founding Fathers? See this and this.
Nice choice of subjects here, Geo. Timely, too, with the growing torrent of trolls lately. They spread FUD, they sound like idiots, they do whatever is necessary to disrupt the social climate here.
ZH being the kind of cyber town square that it is, I'm inclined to assume that some parties are indeed paying people to troll here. If you've got money, like, say, the Koch brothers, why would you rely on amateurs?
Since we're all adults here and, even more important, presumably all share a strong appreciation of business systems, media, and the like, I can't believe that anybody is genuinely unable to wrap their minds around that proposition.
The denials seem inexplicable. We teach our children better understanding of the web than that. And I bet they do, too.
It is so easy to imagine others being fooled and so difficult to imagine falling for the same thing.
This is a really powerful phenomenon and causes certain things to be almost impossible to perceive.
That is, until something causes a person to undergo a major change in their awareness. Then they can "see" it in a way that seems self-evident.
My point is that everyone uses psyops. You use liberal psyops, I use right-wing psyops, the goverment uses statist psyops. The internet is a big information fest where everyone is trying to shout down everyone else. Nothing new here.
Speaking entirely for myself: speak for yourself AR15AU.
But thanks for the 'heads-up' on your perspective. Appreciate you shooting yourself in the foot.
funny (cause it's true)
No, I do not, nor do most of those in this forum, and I resent the implication. An open, honest, sincere discussion and debate, no matter what one's opinion, has no place for "psyops" in any form, which by definition is intended to disrupt, divert, and destroy such open and honest discussion.
+1,000,000,000 (in gold-backed currency, not fiat bucks).
GW, you have serious integrity. You put out serious points of view that one can examine and agree, disagree, or have alternative views upon.
Takes some tough mindedness to to that-and we all appreciate it.
(otoh, we'll spar a bit, I'm sure)
- Ned
..and fortitude for lack of a better word.
Some of the attacks against you just seem so, hyperbolic and overblown, that they almost don't seem real.
Hmmm, that's on-topic without really meaning to be.
It leaves the same smell and nausia as being burgled to find everything is becoming undermined or invaded.
used to run into the disinformerson youtube all the time.
one was "bluecobaltagent"
he pinged to an IP at fort dietricht(SP)
i remember being blown away that he was doing his business straight from a US army base
since dealing with him and others like him, my account was suspended three times until i finally gave up
so once again another conspiracy theory moves to the conspiracy fact column
My son has been a DOD contractor in Afghanistan for about 8 years. He does things with communications. About five years ago he popped up with online chat. We bantered a bit and I typed that "We should drop a nuke every ten miles from Syria heading east."
Nearly immediately a new chatbox popped up titled NSAGUY. He politely asked me to "moderate my words".
Told him to fuck off.
I feel the same way sometimes...except I'd start in Kentucky.