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posted by janrinok on Tuesday March 18 2014, @04:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the leave-my-internet-alone dept.

mrbluze writes:

"The eye keeps getting bigger. The Guardian Reports on the U.K. Ministry of Defence's plans to weaponize social media:

With the advent of sophisticated data-processing capabilities (including big data), the big number-crunchers can detect, model and counter all manner of online activities just by detecting the behavioural patterns they see in the data and adjusting their tactics accordingly.

'Cyberwarfare of the future may be less about hacking electrical power grids and more about hacking minds by shaping the environment in which political debate takes place,' he (Dr. Tim Stevens, Kings College London) added. The research into the programmes, which are designed to emulate human conversation and are familiar as 'virtual assistants' on retailers' websites, envisages a future in which 'an influence bot could be deployed in both covert and overt ways - on the web, in IM/chatrooms/forums or in virtual worlds.'

The proposed uses for this research are to keep tabs on the activities of soldiers, as an example, but the possibility of manipulating the public is also at the forefront."

 
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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by GungnirSniper on Tuesday March 18 2014, @04:59PM

    by GungnirSniper (1671) on Tuesday March 18 2014, @04:59PM (#18160) Journal

    So the government is finally going to get involved with bot-based astroturfing? Does this mean instead of "My Windows box has uptime in years!" we get "$GOVPROGRAM worked for me and my family!" instead?

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by ikanreed on Tuesday March 18 2014, @05:20PM

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 18 2014, @05:20PM (#18170) Journal

    Like spying, they totally promise government produced propaganda is only directed at other countries.

    • (Score: 5, Funny) by Bot on Tuesday March 18 2014, @05:30PM

      by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 18 2014, @05:30PM (#18174) Journal

      Hello ikanreed
      The sarcastic tone in your comment has been noted.
      Have a nice day.

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      Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Tuesday March 18 2014, @06:06PM

      by davester666 (155) on Tuesday March 18 2014, @06:06PM (#18190)

      Like spying, they totally promise government produced propaganda is only directed at non-citizens.

    • (Score: 2) by Dunbal on Tuesday March 18 2014, @06:47PM

      by Dunbal (3515) on Tuesday March 18 2014, @06:47PM (#18203)

      Or anyone who ever had anything to do with anyone in another country. Ooops.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by Bot on Tuesday March 18 2014, @05:32PM

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 18 2014, @05:32PM (#18175) Journal

    Speaking of which, I just have got a hefty tax refund for me and my family. Isn't our government wonderful?

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    Account abandoned.