As reported in this morning’s Daily News Roundup, Glenn Greenwald’s latest piece for The Intercept takes a look at how western intelligence agencies “are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself.” The report covers two tactics of UK spy agency GCHQ’s secret unit: “(1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable.”
The following is a sample of the wide spectrum of reactions to the Greenwald piece from journalists and other commentators on Twitter.
GCHQ's guide to discrediting people & companies is probably the nastiest thing yet to emerge from Snowden's leaks: https://t.co/sZAeuZdGFo
— Andy Greenberg (@a_greenberg) February 25, 2014
https://twitter.com/NCWeaver/status/438129516901175296
Greenwald writes "these documents leave no doubt" GCHQ is infiltrating online communities, but the PowerPoint slides show no evidence of it.
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) February 25, 2014
.@ggreenwald's latest is, hands down, one of the most important revelations to emerge from the Snowden leaks: https://t.co/QaxWxakpHk
— Sebastian Jones (@sebastianojones) February 25, 2014
Seriously, report on at least one "false flag" operation, at least one "honey trap" – slides are not very informative. #Snowden #journalism
— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) February 25, 2014
Breaking: Spies are taught to use deception, psychology, and trickery. Also breaking: Water is wet.
— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) February 25, 2014
This @ggreenwald story is amazing in that it shows the govt teaching how to do textbook online stalking/harassment. https://t.co/qIw9vnakwO
— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) February 25, 2014
What a surprise to see Greenwald's latest piece on GCHQ describes espionage techniques without revealing any abuses: https://t.co/6KwMrr37Dg
— Jeremy Duns (@JeremyDuns) February 25, 2014
So when Edward Snowden said the UK's spy agency was worse than the NSA, this is probably what he was talking about. https://t.co/F4nHYkIZ22
— Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) February 24, 2014