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Obam-o-bots on the Internet

Patriot Action Network blows the whistle on Obama's attempt to subvert the internet in an article titled, "US Gov. Software Creates 'Fake People' on Social Networks to Promote Propaganda."

The US government is offering private intelligence companies contracts to create software to manage "fake people" on social media sites and create the illusion of consensus on controversial issues. ...
 

According to the contract, the software would "protect the identity of government agencies" by employing a number of false signals to convince users that the poster is in fact a real person. A single user could manage unique background information and status updates for up to 10 fake people from a single computer. ...

[Leaked e-mails describe] how they would  'friend' real people on Facebook as a way to convey government messages.

It just gets worse from there. I lack the tech savvy to detect if this is legitimate news or an elaborate hoax - but if true, it's damning to the hope and change president who promised transparency and a new way. I've said it before, but, just for perspective, George W. Bush never imagined violating the principles of liberty and privacy in this way. Where is the outrage from the left?

Categories > Technology

Discussions - 4 Comments

it makes no difference,we are coming in force to vote these marxist out in 2012

Where is the outrage from the left?

My sediments exactly. Where is Scanlon posting fits about the uncivility in Wisconsin..... Not a peep. Not one word.

Justin, I am inclined to believe these sorts of fake bots are already employed by unscrupulous businesses, political parties and others. I know for a fact that the SEC is cracking down on these bots being used to hype certain stocks. Also a lot of them were created to manipulate certain quasi-pyramid scheme "home" businesses. Also there was strong demand to include playing internet poker (at first you could pick the bots because they wouldn't chat...but I think some of the advanced poker bots can chat.)

I would call it technological astroturf. I think the trend is up, up, up and all you can do about it is apply more scrutiny to what you read, until they really do get smarter than you. Then maybe at least they will make intelligent arguments and contribute to civility.

This is a long article but on point:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/mind-vs-machine/8386/

I kind of doubt the gov. is doing it, but you know the game with state actors.

I think technology adjusts to attention span. If there is enough money/power at stake, I think there is a bot that can fool me.

Thankfully perhaps the bots don't need to fool me, they just need a lazy majority.

In the long run, the bots can fool enough of the people enough of the time. The online bots aren't good enough to beat the poker pros, but a good bot can grind profitably the 1-2 game on pokerstars.

This is part of what Dr. Lawler talks about in terms of autonomy vs. productivity, and why he thinks productivity wins.

It is neither in the interest of the republican party, nor in the interest of the democratic party to present an issue like "bots" in a way that doesn't finger "Obama" or "Bush", that is the "bots" are typically persuasive/partisan/commercial, except that unfortunately this is not always the case.

Why should there be outrage on the left?

Plus why should outrage on the left post here?

If you read Gleen Greenwald he has been on these issues constantly, and is as strong on them as the ACLU. These are issues that make up the core of left-libertarian thinking.

"The job listing was discussed in recently leaked emails from the private security firm HBGary after an attack by internet activist last week."

Yes and who are internet activists other than left-libertarians?

Should the outrage on the left be that you took what they leaked and then "recast it"?

Don't the quasi-state actors contractors/firms that are big into this, don't they number Palintir technologies?

So you don't consider say Wikileaks and Cryptome to be a left-libertarian.

"The creation of internet propoganda software is only one of HBGary's controversial activities. According to Wikileaks competetor and occasional collaborator Cryptome.org, several other progressive organizations were intended to be targeted including anti-war activist, anti-torture organizations and groups opposed to the US Chamber of Commerce."

You probably can invert reality enough to convince some people that Julian Assange is a right winger, and demand outrage from the left as if Glenn Greenwald didn't exist.

Even keeping in mind my desire to see people with low attention spans punished, there is no way in the scheme of things for me to buy into your argument and cheer from the right.

I don't even think I can afford the requisite idiocy level, that would inevitably bleed into the rest of my assumptions about reality, necessary to participate in this type politics. I think the bots should have at it.

My Captcha: Plato ogehobbes (Hobbes?)

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