US military studied how to influence Twitter users in Darpa-funded research
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/08/darpa-social-networks-research-twitter-influence-studies
The activities of users of Twitter and other social media services were recorded and analysed as part of a major project funded by the US military, in a program that covers ground similar to Facebooks controversial experiment into how to control emotions by manipulating news feeds.
Research funded directly or indirectly by the US Department of Defenses military research department, known as Darpa, has involved users of some of the internets largest destinations, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Kickstarter, for studies of social connections and how messages spread.
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The project list includes a study of how activists with the Occupy movement used Twitter as well as a range of research on tracking internet memes and some about understanding how influence behaviour (liking, following, retweeting) happens on a range of popular social media platforms like Pinterest, Twitter, Kickstarter, Digg and Reddit.
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However, papers leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden indicate that US and British intelligence agencies have been deeply engaged in planning ways to covertly use social media for purposes of propaganda and deception. Documents prepared by NSA and Britain's GCHQ (and previously published by the Intercept as well as NBC News) revealed aspects of some of these programs. They included a unit engaged in discrediting the agencys enemies with false information spread online.
It can't happen here, oops.