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We explain that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and a host of other social networking platforms are increasingly viewed by intelligence agencies as invaluable channels of information acquisition. We base our findings on three recent case studies, which we believe highlight the intelligence function of social networking. (Joseph Fitsanakis, Research: Spies increasingly using Facebook, Twitter to gather data, intelNews.org, February 13, 2012)What the study fails to mention, however, is the use of social media by intelligence agencies for other purposes. The study leads us to believe that social media is solely an intelligence gathering tool, when in fact, a number of reports have shown that it is used for propaganda including the creation of fake identities in support of covert operations. Those practices are discussed in Army of Fake Social Media Friends to Promote Propaganda, Social Media: Air Force ordered software to manage army of Fake Virtual People and Pentagon Seeks to Manipulate Social Media for Propaganda Purposes, published on Global Research in 2011.
Comment: Interesting that US attorney Kurt Haskell was not called to testify. Abdulmutallab was clearly a patsy. How else could a man with no passport be led onto a plane into the US by two agents?
Haskell Blows Whistle on Underwear Bomber, Government Op
The Underwear Bomber - Crushing Freedom With Phony Arab Terrorism
Underwear Bomber Redux - Was Mutallab An Israeli "Secret Weapon"?
"Underwear Bomber" Could Not Have Blown Up Plane