US admits engaging in social media subversion
The US military has admitted it is investigating means of covertly disseminating propaganda on social media sites after army chiefs confirmed they were developing software which would allow it to create and manage fake pro- American personas on sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
The ruse is intended to manipulate online discussions toward the American political standpoint by having military personnel to manage the accounts of multiple personas to infiltrate and direct online debates which run counter to US policy objectives.
News of the covert operation only came to light when US Central Command (Centcom) awarded a contract to a Ntrepid to allow around 50 army controllers to operate up to 10 individual identities or “sock puppets”.
Centcom spokesman Bill Speaks confirmed the move but said they were targeting “violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US” and would be conducted in languages such as Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.
Speaks was adamant however that all English language interventions would continue to be clearly attributed to Centcom.
The elaborate ploy will see provision of a virtual private server in the US and numerous others around the world to give credence to the government’s mouthpieces.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson refused to comment on Britain’s own cyber capability.