DOJ/DHS is spying on anti-govt or ‘far-right’ social media usage
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is concentrating on “far-right” groups in a new study of social media usage aimed at combatting violent extremism.
What is a "far-right" person or group?
Rational Wiki describes a "far-right" person/group as:
Anti-immigration; sometimes combined with either anti-Semitism or Islamophobia; in many cases outright racism, such as white supremacy and/or ethnic-related conspiracy theories such as Holocaust denial, Eurabia and ideas about "white extinction"
Anti-socialism and extreme anti-communism (as in endorsing conspiracy theories surronding the subject), though in some cases supporting a limited welfare state and occasionally even "state capitalism" (except in the United States where any sort of welfare is seen as communism). On the other hand in the states a number of paleoconservatives and laissez-faire types are more hostile to a welfare state and may desire to see the social safety net gutted entirely.
Nationalism, possibly including historical revisionism
Pro-life and promoting childbirth (see also white extinction scenario)
Supporting family values and traditional gender roles, and is virtually always homophobic
Tough stance on crime, probably in support of capital punishment
Environmentalism might be prevalent as well as anti-environmental sentiment (climate change denial etc)
Questioning universal civil rights and human rights.
Reactionary beliefs, meaning beliefs that things were better some time ago (often before some major legislative change, such as civil rights laws).
According to this loose interpretation anyone who believes, writes or comments about conspiracy theories [anti-govt. beliefs] is a target.
- If you write or comment that there are too many people on Welfare, you're a target.
- If you believe in family values and write about it you're a target!
- If you question universal civil rights or human rights, you're a target!
- If you write, comment or believe we had more civil rights prior to 2001, you're a target!
What's that you say, This is absurd! DHS and the Patriot Act [Freedom Act] have destroyed our civil rights and the NSA, DEA, DHS etc., should stop spying on everyone. You right wing extremist, how dare you! Now police, universities and Fusion Centers will spy on your every word!
AG Eric Holder said the study will “help us develop more effective techniques and partnerships for counter-messaging.” Think on that for a minute, the DOJ just announced they're officially in the PROPOGANDA business!
The DOJ will 'counter-message' any negative stories, Tweets or comments with government approved messages. Sounds just like the USSR, Nazi's and Chinese. Three oppressive regimes that controlled their media. The only problem is China is still doing it.
The DOJ's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded Michigan State University a $585,719 NIJ/DHS grant.
The NIJ is a part of the DOJ which works for DHS, so doesn't that mean DHS controls our justice system?
Click here, here & here to read how the NIJ is controlled by DHS.
Earlier this year I reported that DHS is giving police departments social media surveillance software.
"With the proliferation of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media websites, law enforcement agencies and first responders would do well to acclimate themselves to these tools. Why? Because such websites can provide crucial information during civil unrest, natural disasters and other disturbances. Gaining real-time information can make a tremendous impact on response times and strategies, and rendering the necessary assistance. It’s for these very reasons that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) developed a specialized social media monitoring and data-mining capability."
"As is the case with traditional investigations, police do not rely on one source of social media information to make an informed decision on a course of action. Officials listen for, and monitor, multiple posts to confirm events."
The software gathers real-time and old posts from around the area and organizes the data for officials to review. They can track where a post came from and use keyword searches to follow conversations on several sites.
More about the grant:
“There is currently limited knowledge of the role of technology and computer mediated communications (CMCs), such as Facebook and Twitter, in the dissemination of messages that promote extremist agendas and radicalize individuals to violence,” according to the NIJ grant. “The proposed study will address this gap through a series of qualitative and quantitative analyses of posts from various forms of CMC used by members of both the far-right and Islamic extremist movements.”
We will collect posts made in four active forums used by members of the far-right and three from the Islamic Extremist community, as well as posts made in Facebook, LiveJournal, Twitter, YouTube, and Pastebin accounts used by members of each movement,” the grant said.
“The findings will be used to document both the prevalence and variation in the ideological content of posts from members of each movement,” the grant continued. “In addition, we will assess the value of these messages in the social status of the individual posting the message and the function of radical messages in the larger on-line identity of participants in extremist communities generally.”
The project will also “identify the hidden networks of individuals who engage in extremist movements based on geographic location and ideological similarities.”