July 30, 2012
In order to understand group dynamics and
“forecast trends”, the DOD hopes to understand how a group evolves,
interacts, recruits, influences other groups and affect the opinions of
individuals and communities.
In phase 2, the system developed would learn the,
...then achieve a 90% accuracy rate in detecting state changes in 1,000 groups with a combined total of more than a million members with 100,000 postings a day.
Phase 3, prototype development, would:
While only in the proposal phase, such desires from the military should send chills down the spine of anyone interested in protecting civil liberties.
The DOD might purport to be interested in using such technology for the purposes of understanding “terrorist” or “criminal” groups, we’ve already seen the increased criminalization of dissent.
Many American law enforcement agencies have had their eyes and ears on activist groups that use Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets, cell phone carriers and other forms of electronic communication as a way of spreading ideas and organizing protests.
Tracking and predicting group behavior in the
hands of any government or military entity is just another tool in an ever
increasing armory of weapons against dissenters.
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