Homeland Security expanding monitoring of journalists, bloggers, forum posters, social media

[stockholmer]

http://rt.com/usa/news/homeland-security-journalists-monitoring-321/

Freedom of speech might allow journalists to get away with a lot in America, but the Department of Homeland Security is on the ready to make sure that the government is keeping dibs on who is saying what. Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative that came out of DHS headquarters in November, Washington has the written permission to retain data on users of social media and online networking platforms.

[font color=red]Specifically, the DHS announced the NCO and its Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS) can collect personal information from news anchors, journalists, reporters or anyone who may use “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.”[/font color] According to the Department of Homeland Security’s own definition of personal identifiable information, or PII, such data could consist of any intellect “that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information which is linked or linkable to that individual.” Previously established guidelines within the administration say that data could only be collected under authorization set forth by written code, but the new provisions in the NOC’s write-up means that any reporter, whether someone along the lines of Walter Cronkite or a budding blogger, can be victimized by the agency.

Also included in the roster of those subjected to the spying are government officials, domestic or not, who make public statements, private sector employees that do the same and “persons known to have been involved in major crimes of Homeland Security interest,” which to itself opens up the possibilities even wider.

The department says that they will only scour publically-made info available while retaining data, but it doesn’t help but raise suspicion as to why the government is going out of their way to spend time, money and resources on watching over those that helped bring news to the masses. The development out of the DHS comes at the same time that U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady denied pleas from supporters of WikiLeaks who had tried to prevent account information pertaining to their Twitter accounts from being provided to federal prosecutors. Jacob Applebaum and others advocates of Julian Assange’s whistleblower site were fighting to keep the government from subpoenaing information on their personal accounts that were collected from Twitter.

snip

[handmade34]

1. my daughter

just got a job... TSA (Homeland Security) and is privy to things she can't share... but she did assure me that I am not on the terrorists watch list!

[hobbit709]

4. I'm surprised my mother hasn't been put on it.

She travels a lot and never fails to tell people how it reminds her of what life was like 1938-45 in Austria.

[liberal N proud]

5. The fact that she got the job proves that

The security checks would have turned your name up, if you were on one of their watch list.

I do wonder how they will monitor us here on DU, will Skinner have to turn over our real names to the Homeland police?

[hobbit709]

2. Can we call them the Gestapo yet?

[no_hypocrisy]

3. It's degenerating to where in the future you will post on DU and it will lead to

the indefinite detention by the military without a trial. The pieces are now in place. It won't be today. It won't be tomorrow. But it's in the future.

[Scuba]

6. This report activates Plan 37b. Purple, green, dove, cheetah. Repeat: Purple, green, dove, cheetah

[txlibdem]

7. The Land of the Free

But never let them forget the next line:

AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE.

Do not let the government intimidate you... exercise your rights under The Constitution, and do so with as many people backing you up as you can possibly get.