But what does the US military use [Facebook and Twitter] for? Well, we can’t tell you: That’s classified, a CENTCOM spokesman recently informed Raw Story. One use that’s confirmed, however, is the manipulation of social media through the use of fake online personas managed by the military. Recently the US Air Force had solicited private sector vendors for something called persona management software. Such a technology would allow single individuals to command virtual armies of fake, digital people across numerous social media portals. These personas were to have detailed, fictionalized backgrounds, to make them believable to outside observers, and a sophisticated identity protection service was to back them up, preventing suspicious readers from uncovering the real person behind the account. They even worked out ways to game geolocating services, so these personas could be virtually inserted anywhere in the world, providing ostensibly live commentary on real events, even while the operator was not really present. ... The potential for misuse, however, was abundantly clear. A fake virtual army of people could be used to help create the impression of consensus opinion in online comment threads, or manipulate social media to the point where valuable stories are suppressed. Ultimately, this can have the effect of causing a net change to the public’s opinions and understanding of key world events. #CIA #Facebook #Propaganda #USmilitary #SocialMedia
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 04:33:57 +0000
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