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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."
Really, calling propaganda "Operation Earnest Voice"? I think a few braincells just exploded.
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
Shouldn't something like this have been kept Secret? Letting everyone know about it kind of defeats the purpose.
Personally I think it's a fantastic idea, clearly indicative of a government that loves and cares for its people.
Cappp...translate this into Farsi when you get a chance please.
"The project will be funded as part of the $200 million Operation Earnest Voice program run by US Central Command."
This word you are using... I do not think it means what you think it means.
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.
Even though I was joking, I can't believe I just said that. You can ostracize me now.
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
You can opt out of the newspaper market, I certainly have. Can't easily opt out of tax paying.
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.
An American would not spell "dishonorable" the way you did.
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.
...you should probably ignore all of those friend requests you are suddenly getting.
There is nothing dishonorable at all with the U.S.A. spreading pro-USA propaganda.
Dark Reflection
Is site considered on US soil, or should we start expecting military trolls here soon?
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.
And bully for the good old US of A, the bastion of democracy and goodness, for coming up with it!
I, and all of my attractive, intelligent and clever friends agree with this! You should agree as well!
Absolutely. Let us all lay down our arms, convert to Christianity and promise to uphold copyright law.
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?
But Voice of America is a branded product. You tune into VoA and it tells you you're listening to VoA. It's propaganda, but it's a million miles away from sock-puppeting -- sock puppets don't tell you they're sock puppets.
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
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.
I agree. And yet, when I say that the US population is massively propagandized by its government, I get called a conspiracy theorist. I know the program in question is aimed at only foreigners, but we know how that can go don't we? I once heard that the difference between Soviet and American propaganda was that the Soviet people recognized it for what it was; the Americans, not so much.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
Considering the source, I think it's fair to assume that this news has an anti-military slant.
Also, could this be considered "counter propaganda?" A lot of people get a lot of misinformation about the USA, often from official sources. There is no way for the US to defend itself in the government controlled media of those countries.
I like this sort of action a lot better than dropping bombs, or rolling tanks.
Are you sure you have an idea what the term "propaganda" means? For a start, it doesn't imply any commitment to truth...
There is nothing to object to propaganda that is clearly marked as such (see above comments about "Voice of America"), but if it comes in disguise then it is, of course, dishonorable.
The technical term for the whole process run by the rich to sway decision-makers is "astroturfing," because they're creating an artificial grass-roots effort. Sock puppetry is only one tool in their toolbox.
Nicky Hager's book Secrets and Lies, has terrific detail on how such a campaign is run, documenting the New Zealand timber industry's bought-and-paid-for efforts to run roughshod over the environmentalists in order to log the islands.
John
Not with my taxes, please. Dishonourable shits.
Considering you spell dishonorable with a 'u', I assume it actually isn't with your taxes.
Now..wouldn't any pro-USA comments on any ME message board or whatever now be suspected of being a sockpuppet?
I guess we now have a new meme: On the internet...
All the men are men
All the women are men
All the kids are FBI agents
And...all the pro-USA guys in foreign forums are CIA agents.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Sure you can! Just head to any US embassy in the world and renounce your citizenship. There are lots of people all over the world that don't pay taxes to the US.
Knowing it exists, will not tell you what is and isn't tainted with propaganda. For this reason, I don't think they are going to lose all that much sleep over the big secret getting out.
Embarrassing? Well maybe a little, but remember this is the same nation that had a pretty damning video of a helicopter attack on civilian targets go public, and there was disturbingly little backlash from the public all things considered.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
Judge by their actions, not their words. Looking at history, the primary goal of government is growth -- expanding their business slowly but surely for the elite few who can exploit it. And it shows. The US government of today absolutely dwarfs the US government of only 50, let alone 100 years ago, both in revenue and power over the people. Every year government spends more, borrows more, and seizes more power over the people -- which will be leveraged as precedent for the next expansion of revenue and/or power.
Let's put it this way. Imagine a government strictly limited in power and revenue (like the US government was supposed to be). A government that simply can't afford to spend money on pork like this -- what's in that for the career politician? What's in that for the elite who benefit personally from big, unaccountable government? Nothing at all.
But now imagine a government that has their hands in every aspect of life, costs trillions of dollars per year, and has so much money passing through it that it's literally impossible to account for it all -- now THAT is a government fit for crooks.
Finally, although government is run like a business in just about every aspect, there is one important distinction: government has the special right to employ coercion (meaning physical force) as their business model. Hence there is no penalty for failure -- in fact, failure in government is typically rewarded with yet even more revenue. For the career politician, can this possibly get any better?
"The diety-led Hebrews" - does this mean that Abraham was a really skinny guy? Or just that he had some books to sell "Smash Idols to Lose 60 Mina in 30 Days"?
New mod option wanted: -1 DrunkenRambling
When I say I'm watching T.V. my friends call me a bullshitter... I never watch TV.
When I say I'm watching T.V., I'm sitting in the living room staring at the giant black monolith, staring carefully. You can never be too safe, those things are dangerous. It hasn't been plugged in since I go it, the last thing you want to do is give those damn things POWER. The sad thing is no one believes me either... my girl friend left me, I can hear my cats chitter with contempt and amusement... But I will continue my vigil, for the good of the humane and just society.
I'm a hero. A hero damnit.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
No. He either was God, or he rode a bicycle.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Republicans are on a tear to eliminate social programs.
Lordy, this program is all about social (media) programs. Cut it, cut it, cut it.
Bachmann, you are a self-described cutter. Cut it. Come on, cut, cut, cut.
Maybe once we see Glen Beck crying about this on Fox the patriot citizenry will kill this outrageous social program.
.
Performance must be inherent in every aspect of the system. It is not an afterthought, but always thought. - me