Keeping yourself aware...
This group made aware of all the spying that has happened and that is still happening in the United States and around the world. They started with
disinformation. This is the intent to mislead people. I learned that it is very common in elections and politics and is the mot common form of propaganda. While we might think the United States veers away from propaganda, they do it more often than we think through election campaigns and rallies. As seen in past events around the world, it can very easily destabilize society. Disinformation itself is a mix of misinformation and maliformation making it even more dangerous.
The next thing I was made aware of was the Smith-Mudnt Act. The Act was a very large debate about the U.S. Government spreading information into schools. The case was mainly about government propaganda. In 2013, this case was modernized and this made the government more open with the public. The government became able to influence citizens more effectively now because they would share information that was disclosed before.
After the Smith-Mudnt Act,
Total Information Awareness was shared. Another name for this is Terrorism Information Awareness. This happens through analysis of large groups as a way to protect national security. Through total information awareness high risk people can be sought out in even the lowest risk situations. The information on the people they analyze are stored in large data bases. In 2003, this program was defunded to prevent mass surveillance. While this project was defunded, many more have been created under different names. Everyone is a risk because its hard to determine who could possibly be a terrorist.
The next item that was explained was False Flag Operations. This is when a person is falsely blamed for something on purpose. This is often used in warfare to persuade others to join and trust a side. This is often a tactic to steal information for the opposition. This is a difficult operation because it is hard to know people's motives. Due to this, tension is often created between large groups, such as countries.
The final organization I became aware of was
Five Eyes. This is an international data sharing organization that was started during World War II. There are two sub groups of Five Eyes. One being Prism which controls Google and Microsoft. The other is Upstream and they track phone calls, emails, and private messages. This group has been exposed many times and is still here to stay. In fact, they want to expand through even more countries.
Through this presentation, I was able to learn about the many ways the government is tracking me and how they are doing it. I cant say it made me feel better, but being aware is the first step in creating change.
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