“Frenemies” and the Uses, or Abuses, of Social Media
(Digital Frontiers, VOA News) The cyber-theater that is Anonymous vs. HBGary continues. But there are other stories that might be termed "creative" uses of social media:
#1: "Friending" the Enemy: This week in the Washington Times, Shaun Waterman detailed the US military’s expanding use of social media in psychological operations [PsyOps]. Specifically, US Central Command’s recent acquisition of software from the slightly shadowy firm Ntrepid that could allow one user to create many fake online personas. The purpose, writes Waterman:
“The program is aimed at helping troops create and maintain realistic online personalities that will persuade extremists to allow them into chat rooms and bulletin boards by creating the appearance that they are logging on and posting messages or other contributions from anywhere in the world.”
By law, the US military can “…influence, disrupt, corrupt or usurp…” enemy communications in foreign settings. But it cannot target US audiences. However the Internet knows few borders, and the military’s embrace of social media information-war is raising serious questions about who is receiving what messages. As former CIA director Michael Hayden terms it, it’s a tactic in the “developmental” stage.
#2: Beijing Wants to be Friends, Too: The Chinese government has a long history of working to scrub the parts of the Internet that it doesn’t like. More>>
