The federal government is spending nearly $1 million to create an online database that will track “misinformation” and hate speech on Twitter.
The National Science Foundation is financing the creation of a web service that will monitor “suspicious memes” and what it considers “false and misleading ideas,” with a major focus on political activity online.
The “Truthy” database, created by researchers at Indiana University, is designed to “detect political smears, astroturfing, misinformation, and other social pollution.”
…as defined by a team whose lead investigator is apparently so steeped in progressive groups and causes that its surprising that his skin hasn’t been permanently dyed blue. Anyway, it’d be an absolute shame if the data got corrupted, so don’t do that, OK?
Moe Lane
PS: Somebody keep track of whoever it was that approved federal money for this. It might be relevant, some day.
You know I can see where somebody could make it a full time hobby just spoofing these guys. The only real question is how to make it pay.
Is this the start of the “Ministry of Truth”? I remember reading “1984” as a teenager but I didn’t expect it to be used as a playbook. Good grief.
Also the term “social pollution” – very interesting statement right there. Lenin would have approved.
I’m alternating between spitting, horrified, dumbstruck rage… and giggling and rubbing my hands together at the opportunities to play Simon Jester.
I dunno, if I just posted to them essentially every lefty meme that hit my wall it wouldn’t corrupt their data at all, those would definitely be true positives, not false ones.
The “false and misleading” BS is what an administrator tried to ban in the campus Usenet groups when I was in college. She found herself confronted by ALL the students… the only thing the entire political spectrum on campus ever agreed on.
Moe, I’m not exactly surprised by this, and to be quite frank, I taken a lot of flak in the past for pointing out that the Federal Government was probably snooping (or in the process of trying to snoop) on average Americans for political reasons (not to keep us safe).