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Controversial GCHQ Unit Engaged In Domestic Law Enforcement, Online Propaganda
Advocatus Diaboli writes: Documents published by The Intercept on Monday reveal that a British spy unit purported by officials to be focused on foreign intelligence and counterterrorism, and notorious for using "controversial tactics, online propaganda and deceit,” focuses extensively on traditional law enforcement and domestic activities. The documents detail how the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) is involved in efforts against political groups it considers "extremist," Islamist activity in schools, the drug trade, online fraud, and financial scams. The story reads: "Though its existence was secret until last year, JTRIG quickly developed a distinctive profile in the public understanding, after documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the unit had engaged in 'dirty tricks' like deploying sexual 'honey traps' designed to discredit targets, launching denial-of-service attacks to shut down internet chat rooms, pushing veiled propaganda onto social networks, and generally warping discourse online."
As a chap in England - you what? The IRA were scary maybe, the ISIS in England issue is mostly noise.
I think it's more that a group which claims to be focused on external threats, and uses tactics that few would be comfortable using on citizens of their country, is focusing mostly on standard internal issues which are normally the purview of the regular police.
To put it another way, when I use my handgun to deal with an armed intruder to my home nobody would think ill of me. If I use that handgun to deal with my disobedient teenager then it's an entirely different issue. Even if the teenager is (for example) stealing from me just like the burgler was trying to, it's not an acceptable response. We have acceptable means to deal with our children, and a handgun is not on the menu.
Similarly, using DDOS, propaganda, and blackmail on your own citizens is not the appropriate response even if we may condone it against foreign nations in limited circumstances, just as we condone (at least in the United States) the use of handguns in limited circumstances.
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
Re: "How long will it take before people finally see":
Internally the 1980's trade union ban was telling and the public could see the marching by UK staff to keep their union membership.
The union ban stayed in place for years and reflected on hours, working conditions and how the UK gov treated its own trusted security cleared staff.
The wider public and security researchers now fully understand cell-site tracking, dirtboxes, voice prints, junk global encryption standards, efforts against VPN, efforts to contain all security software, total recall of all networked communications within or out of the UK.
What seems to be new is understanding of the change from just total network collection to use of sock puppets and tracking of "thinking" or talking to the press or publishing domestically.
Methods once hinted at been reserved for foreign journalists or gov officials is now understood to be in use domestically for any domestic thought crime.
The methods seem to be reverting back to a 1920-50's idea to have total control over the press, new media and people using the domestic media.
People where much more easy to track if they thought they where "free" like in the and the UK gov fully understood that.
Once people understand the networks are all been tracked they will just stop using the effortless digital networks.
The UK will then be back to the expensive problem of having to use very traditional methods.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
10 years ago this story would have had over 1k comments. Now people just say meh. Collective apathy or mental resignation to the topic coupled with a demoralizing feeling of helplessness....it's been 1984 for a long time now.
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
Certain IRC channels are being interfered by US professional trolls. They work in teams and create fake discussions to influence and to bait out radicals.
Here is one log of two of them trying to bait with supposedly secret information on drone technology. Notice that the main one mirrors radical ideas as bait, too.
http://pastebin.com/sfnkmDFD
I imagine that this is done to prevent another Snowden.
"You should never doubt what nobody is sure about." -- Willy Wonka
This is a popular online forum. You can bet that all sorts of state actors, megacorporations, politicians, and anyone else with clout or ambition will be shaping the discourse here as needed. Turn up your critical thinking skills a notch.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it dissolve.
They are doing so many things at once, with activities ranging from countering Islamic extremism to online scam and everything in between
No wonder they can't do anything right!!
For example, the Birmingham school district was taken over Islamic extremists and that GCHQ unit did *NOTHING* to stop them
What is the use of having that unit if it can't even do anything right?
Continue provision of intelligence relating to risks to UK investment overseas
Both US and UK "surprisingly" boycotted an auction for the right to explore huge oil reserves in Brazil a few months after Dilma complained about the spying on Brazilians, herself and on Petrobras (the top deep sea oil exploration company in the world), driving the prices down.
Right now Petrobras is under investigation for corruption of some of its leaders, mostly related to the federal government party, it's stocks went down by a lot and most of the infrastructure investments / constructions are blocked. This is the only news here and we'll get American help on the investigations, even though we just refused German help on the Siemens case (the corrupts on that case are on the opposition party). Some people on the opposition party are involved in this Petrobras case as well, but the prosecutors decided there was no reason to investigate them. Seems like they jumped out at the right time and then, after decades of corruption (according to the case witnesses), it started falling down.
I hope people stop talking like economic espionage is a Chinese only thing.
As a chap in England - you what?
JTRIG imposter derailing the discussion! Everyone knows a real Brit would've pronounced it "u wot m8"...
pushing veiled propaganda onto social networks
Does that mean lots and lots of pictures of the Queen in a revealing burqa? Or do they mostly post pictures of Putin in a burqa? Two peas in a pod, those spies and the spies.
So in short, you're okay with paid government shills on the web because muslims? Even then, I don't buy that you're enough of a dupe to think muslims are the reaaon, when other leaks show the main goal of these activities is to target people in the first world, not the third.
Right now Europe is far more scared of the US going out of control than they are of Russia
You're absolutely right. That's why Europeans are asking that Russia predeploy heavy weapons in their territory in case of military actions.
Uhh, something is backwards about this...
Why is Snark Required?
This was all started for President Bush as part of the international war on terror. The rise of ISIS has excused spying on children. Which is strange since most converts are self-radicalized. Everyone calls such converts, disaffected youth, which is probably true, but I notice no politician is demanding better education and support services for at-risk teenagers: That's not part of the 'war-plan' in any country.
Yep, the US via NATO doesn't want to end it's occupation of Europe but the pressure is on to remove US troops from more influential likely to become ex-NATO countries. NATO of course pumps war because the military industrial complex demands it and it drives fear because the dominant country does not ever want its military to leave Europe. Which country has murdered more people than the rest of the world combined in the last 25 years, in fact the only way other countries come close to catching up is joining the Imperialist US wars. Plenty of marketing and propaganda but the reality is, most of the world's countries are totally sick of the US military as controlled by the US military industrial complex and want to end it's scattered occupation of the entire planet.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Absolutely. Only idiots (dave420 springs to mind) would think that islamist extremist activity in schools is a good thing.
The OP states that GCHQ is, "purported by officials to be focused on foreign intelligence and counterterrorism". Since when?
My understanding has always been that there are 3 main "legs" to British Intelligence:
In this context, GCHQ should have always been providing internal communications intelligence for MI5, I'm not sure why this should be news to anyone?
-- Pete.
Monochrome - Probably the UK's largest internet BBS
Fascinating, how politicians never learn anything from history.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Have a look into the KGB, the GeStaPo, the numerous other secret police forces in the various historical and present totalitarian regimes. Hint: These people never serve the people, only ever those in power. The secrecy eliminates all possibility of meaningful oversight, and these people cannot keep themselves under control.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
I think I need "discrediting." Where do I sign up?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
So you don't understand the difference between Islam and Islamism. That's not really a surprise - you keep interchanging distinct terms as if they mean the same thing. You're not really doing yourself favours by showing the world you are clueless of something you purport to hate.
Why'd arabs end up in deserts then? Good people drove them there. Al Tiquyya lies do not honesty make. A religion of peace that says to convert by fire and sword is no religion of peace. More like lying bullshit constantly.
Murder has a definition and why restrict it to 25 years?
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Islam could be a culture. The word has multiple definitions. This is from TheSage which is a nice application but is not the OED or Webster's:
Lemma: culture
Noun
1. The raising of plants or animals.
2. (Biology) The growing of microorganisms in a nutrient medium (such as gelatin or agar).
3. The tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group.
4. All the knowledge and values shared by a society.
5. The attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization.
6. A particular society at a particular time and place.
7. A highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality.
Verb
1. Grow in a special preparation.
The three bold definitions, more so the fifth, could apply but I am not sure there is such a thing as a ubiquitous Islamic culture. All the Muslims that I know are quite peaceful and rather Westernized.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
How the hell is this person's comment a troll? Moderate how you want but -1 Troll is not an acceptable, to me, substitute for, "I do not get it." I may not agree with the person above, it happens that I do, but this certainly is not a troll by any definition I can think of. Feel free to enlighten me if somebody would like but I do not get how that is a troll post. Not agreeing does not make it not a troll. Not understanding is not a reason to moderate it as a troll.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Have you not being paying attention? Why twenty five years, because some countries have been getting worse, USA, much worse and some countries have been getting better Russia and China. Yet main stream media claims the exact opposite of reality because of course they are part of that corporate empire, that psychopathic empire and all so vulnerable because it is only a few troubled pathetic individuals in their crazed delusions orchestrating things. No grand conspiracy of course, no course to the future, just self serving egoistic chaos. A few individuals who inherited more power than they should have and who have exposed themselves and now placed themselves under great risk. For a bunch of countries, they are a great threat, one that can pretty readily and safely be eliminated and as a result pretty much stall the western military industrial complex.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
I have been paying attention indeed. I still wonder why one looks at only 25 years of data and attempts to make a conclusion. You could probably draw the conclusions you want with the entirety of the data if you cared to use it. Additionally, lawful killings are not murder. Now we can debate whose laws apply if we want but that is not pertinent either. The US is responsible for all sorts of atrocities, some of which are killings, and this is not new.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
I'm sure you have never read the Qur'an and therefore don't know what Islam is.