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US Military Commissions Sock Puppet Program
chrb writes "The Guardian and The Telegraph are reporting that US based Ntrepid Corporation has been awarded a $2.76 million contract to develop software aimed at manipulating social media. The project aims to enable military personnel to control multiple 'sock puppets' located at a range of geographically diverse IP addresses, with the aim of spreading pro-US propaganda. The project will not target English speaking web sites (yet) but will be limited to foreign languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto. The project will be funded as part of the $200 million Operation Earnest Voice program run by US Central Command."
Shouldn't something like this have been kept Secret? Letting everyone know about it kind of defeats the purpose.
Really, calling propaganda "Operation Earnest Voice"? I think a few braincells just exploded.
Actually, the name is perfect, since the name is also propaganda.
Pro-USA propaganda is already planted in Iraqi news papers, this is a logical step. It's also despicable. Especially when the same government denounces these tactics when used by "the enemy".
Not with my taxes, please. Dishonourable shits.
Blar.
Another case of the US feeling that it is perfectly acceptable to treat foreigners in a way that would bring outrage if it tried it on its own citizens. Such things started, and were found acceptable: in cases of outright declared war (World Wars, Korea, Vietnam), it is OK to deceive and manipulate enemy civilians. But that has been translated to being OK to do the same to all except strong allies - and it would be a small step to apply it to them. The philosophy has become that war justifies lethal force, and non-war justifies anything except lethal force.
What would the US do if another country started doing the same within the US?
Hey - maybe they have. Maybe all the appalling right-wing bigots are really Chinese sock-puppets intended to discredit the US. I have never met an American who offered those views: all the ones I meet are nice people. Perhaps the bad side of America that I hear of but never see is just a huge cyber sock puppet! Damn!
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
As distasteful as it is, this is hardly a new thing. Pretty much everyone in history has done this to some degree. The only real "news" is that a new mechanism is going into place, but the machinery has been there all along.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
If you can understand an intended meaning to a US operation or program name then it's public persuasion / propaganda.
MKUltra: WTF
Operation Overlord / Neptune: WTF
Operation Iraqi Freedom: propaganda
And the negative mods for this post.
Yet you're perfectly happy to pay for a newspaper laden with dishonest advertisements and astroturf articles. What gives?
May the Maths Be with you!
Well, people are always saying they want the government "run like a business". Well, friend, "business" has been doing this sockpuppet thing for years. Go look at the web site for "New Media Strategies", the company that provides sock puppets for the Koch Brothers, among others. That's their entire business model - providing sock puppets for businesses.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Pro-USA propaganda is already planted in Iraqi news papers, this is a logical step. It's also despicable. Especially when the same government denounces these tactics when used by "the enemy".
Not with my taxes, please. Dishonourable shits.
Ever heard of Voice of America ? Same thing, different media. These aren't subliminal messages, it's propaganda created to directly counter propaganda of those who would seek to continue doing harm in any form, not necessarily just against the United States but also against the interest of humanity - think Gadhaffi for a current example. Having a problem with this is just Naiveté on your part.
There is nothing dishonorable at all with the U.S.A. spreading pro-USA propaganda.
Dark Reflection
Why is it dishonorable if the stories are true? People do not understand that propaganda does not have to be lies and frankly the best propaganda is the truth.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
There's $200 million that should come directly out of the defense budget.
I know that this kind of shit can be done. I know that it could be useful to "win".
But jesus fraggin' christ... do we have to go there first? Do we have to piss on our own credibility at every turn?
Why are you letting these clowns ruin our country?
Not with my taxes, please. Dishonourable shits.
Considering you spell dishonorable with a 'u', I assume it actually isn't with your taxes.