FBI's Comey: Actually, Chasing ISIS Off Twitter Makes It More Difficult For Us To Follow Them
from the things-to-think-about dept
Over and over again we keep hearing politicians and others going on and on about the need for social media companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to kick ISIS users off their platforms. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have called for this. And some people at these companies are supportive of this idea. Twitter regularly feels compelled to talk about how many ISIS accounts it removes.Yet, as we've pointed out each time it's done so, this seems backwards. We've noted that intelligence officials have claimed that they actually get really good intelligence from following these social media accounts. But generally those voices aren't heard as much. So it's actually great to see FBI Direct James Comey (someone we rarely agree with) come out and say it directly: kicking ISIS members off Twitter makes things more difficult for law enforcement.
"We are making good progress with the help of companies like Twitter at chasing the Islamic State" off the platform—the microblogging site has suspended hundreds of thousands of accounts promoting terrorism—but Comey said the challenge is that such efforts push some users "to a place where they’re less able to proselytize broadly but more able to communicate in a secure way. [We've] chased them to apps like Telegram.”Now, of course, this all seems part of Comey's effort to then demonize encryption. But there is a larger point here: when terrorists are using social media and revealing useful info, why should we try to kick them off those platforms? Let them make mistakes.
I know that the big fear from some is that letting ISIS use Twitter means they can better "recruit" but almost every study on this notes that online recruitment isn't really that effective. Most recruitment happens from people who actually know people. And cutting ISIS people off from Twitter also kills off good opportunities for counterspeech, like the time that an ISIS leader called on Muslims to join ISIS, and a whole bunch of Muslims responded with mocking tweets instead: Yes, yes, I know that people saying stuff we disagree with online is very scary -- but silencing them has serious costs as well. So, yes, here's a rare instance where we agree with James Comey: pushing ISIS members off of Twitter is a bad idea. It harms the ability of law enforcement to follow them (and, gives Comey more opportunities to whine about encryption). Just keep them on Twitter and let law enforcement and the intelligence community follow them.
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Filed Under: censorship, encryption, fbi, isis, james comey, law enforcement, social media, surveillance
Companies: twitter
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"Only if there is free pizza."
"My dad said I have to be home by 8. Will we be done by then?"
LOL.
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Really?
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On the other hand, if they kick the terrorists off their platforms, what excuse would the FBI/NSA/etc. have to snoop around them? So it could just be self-serving.
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When you "follow" ISIS on FaceTwit, you should probably not use a FaceTwit account that says something like "FBI", "CIA", etc. And be aware that this increases the count of followers.
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Advice from two centuries ago
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Here's a simple idea:
own echo chamber so they [and the TLAs] can only see each other.
The few smart ones will notice they are no longer visible
to the public but the rest will blissfully go on, giving
valuable information to law enforcement for several years.
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Comey Lies
Comey wants Isis on twitter because it is very likely a lot of the ISIS twitter chat is being conducted by FBI and CIA plants. Without ISIS, how can the "war on terror" and the over bloated inteligence budgets be justified?
Don't believe a damn thing that comes out of Comey's mouth. Comey has shown his true colors and he is an American traitor.
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THE FBI VS THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE
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Mike!... to paraphrase the late author Aldous Huxley:... "The ends don't justify our use of just any means... for the means we use, will determine the very nature of the ends produced!" And simply stated!... we can't be aiding crime, in order to prevent it!... to do so, is to become the criminal!
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There are numerous ways to "tag" the "bad guys", without having to "become the bad guys", or facilitate what the "bad guys" are doing! And if the FBI can't figure out how to secure the clues they need without having to compromise a "conscionable ethos", then it's time to give the task of "clue management" to another "Security stakeholder"!
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Please!... no emails!
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Different el-Baghdadi
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35210527
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Anything that helps keep young people from radicalizing and joining the (insanely stupid) cause is perhaps not such a bad thing.
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