US Government’s Social Networking Infiltration Strategy

The internet has nearly been a free market for information and knowledge on a global scale.

And it is why as we wrote in The Web As Foundation To The Knowledge Revolution, global governments will continue to find ways to counteract the increasingly horizontal flow of information which they view as threat to their interests. [You see, governments want to keep people gullible]

A recent approach reportedly enlisted by the US government is one of “If you can’t beat them join them”—an infiltration strategy aimed at shaping public opinions.

Here is Darlene Storm of the PCworld.com (bold emphasis mine)

It's recently been revealed that the U.S. government contracted HBGary Federal for the development of software which could create multiple fake social media profiles to manipulate and sway public opinion on controversial issues by promoting propaganda. It could also be used as surveillance to find public opinions with points of view the powers-that-be didn't like. It could then potentially have their "fake" people run smear campaigns against those "real" people. As disturbing as this is, it's not really new for U.S. intelligence or private intelligence firms to do the dirty work behind closed doors.

EFF previously warned that Big Brother wants to be your friend for social media surveillance. While the FBI Intelligence Information Report Handbook (PDF) mentioned using "covert accounts" to access protected information, other government agencies endorsed using security exploits to access protected information.

It's not a big surprise that the U.S. military also wants to use social media to its benefit. Last year, Public Intelligence published the U.S. Air Force social media guide which gave 10 tips for social media such as, "The enemy is engaged in this battlespace and you must engage there as well." Number three was "DON'T LIE. Credibility is critical, without it, no one cares what you have to say...it's also punishable by the UCMJ to give a false statement." The Air Force used the chart below to show how social media influences public opinion.

Read the rest here

This only confirms our earlier observation of the governments broadening engagement against the spread of knowledge and how the web has continued to expose them.