Thread: Obama lays framework for purge of online opponents

Obama lays framework for purge of online opponents


By: Anthony Martin


Under the guise of curbing the "radicalization" of U.S. citizens and identifying and purging potentially violent persons from the Internet, the White House has initiated the creation of a new interagency working group to address what it calls a growing problem.

The White House issued a fact sheet delineating the broad objectives of the plan.

The interagency group will be headed by Quintan Wiktorowicz, the current White House senior director for community partnerships on the national security staff. The new group will be called The Interagency Working Group to Counter Online Radicalization and will be charged with the implementation of an Internet safety program to address online violent extremism.

Wiktorowiczs stated,

“Violent extremist groups ─ like Al Qaeda and its affiliates and adherents, violent supremacist groups, and violent “sovereign citizens” ─ are leveraging online tools and resources to propagate messages of violence and division. These groups use the Internet to disseminate propaganda, identify and groom potential recruits, and supplement their real-world recruitment efforts. Some members and supporters of these groups visit mainstream fora to see whether individuals might be recruited or encouraged to commit acts of violence, look for opportunities to draw targets into private exchanges, and exploit popular media like music videos and online video games. Although the Internet offers countless opportunities for Americans to connect, it has also provided violent extremists with access to new audiences and instruments for radicalization.”

Obama lays framework for purge of online opponents - Tea Party Command Center

Silencing the opposition.....

From previous reports, we know that ex military,anti illegal immigration,Ron Paul supporters, constitutionalists are considered terrorists. This leaves the Socialist as the only unaffected group. JMO

Cybersecurity

White House Moves To Counter Online Radicalization

By: Dan Verton
02/05/13






The White House Tuesday announced plans to establish a new Interagency Working Group to counter online radicalization. The group will be chaired by the national security staff and will include experts in countering violent extremism, Internet safety, civil liberties and privacy from across the government.

In a statement posted on the White House website, Quintan Wiktorowicz, the White House Senior Director for Community Partnerships on the National Security Staff, said the Interagency Working Group to Counter Online Radicalization to Violence will be responsible for developing plans to implement an Internet safety approach to address online violent extremism, coordinating the Federal Government’s activities and identifying additional activities to counter online radicalization.

“Violent extremist groups ─ like Al Qaeda and its affiliates and adherents, violent supremacist groups, and violent “sovereign citizens” ─ are leveraging online tools and resources to propagate messages of violence and division,” stated Wiktorowicz. “These groups use the Internet to disseminate propaganda, identify and groom potential recruits, and supplement their real-world recruitment efforts. Some members and supporters of these groups visit mainstream fora to see whether individuals might be recruited or encouraged to commit acts of violence, look for opportunities to draw targets into private exchanges, and exploit popular media like music videos and online video games. Although the Internet offers countless opportunities for Americans to connect, it has also provided violent extremists with access to new audiences and instruments for radicalization.”

The administration’s initial plans include an awareness campaign that will begin to integrate information about online extremism into existing federal Internet safety initiatives. Those initiatives include the Federal Trade Commission’s OnGuard Online, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Stop, Think, Connect” campaign and the FBI’s Safe Online Surfing program.

The administration will then begin working with local governments, civic organizations and local law enforcement officials to share information about the threat of online radicalization and how to counter it, according to Wiktorowicz.

“As the federal government implements this effort in the coming months, we will continue to investigate and prosecute those who use the Internet to recruit others to plan or carry out acts of violence, while ensuring that we also continue to uphold individual privacy and civil liberties,” stated Wiktorowicz. “Preventing online radicalization to violence requires both proactive solutions to reduce the likelihood that violent extremists affect their target audiences as well as ensuring that laws are rigorously enforced.”

In conjunction with the announcement, the White House also released the fact sheet, Working to Counter Online Radicalization to Violence in the United States, that warned violent extremists use the Internet to recruit and radicalize Americans to commit acts of violence.

"We have seen attacks over the last several years in which consumption of propaganda over, and communication through, the Internet played a role in the radicalization of the attacker,” the fact sheet stated. “The Federal Government will work to make communities more resilient to these messages of hate by raising awareness and providing tools. Informed and resilient communities are our Nation’s first and best line of defense against terrorism.”

But some analysts and former DHS officials are skeptical of the ability of such activities to stop the radicalization process. Christopher Hinn, the former Senior Advisor for Middle East Affairs to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, told Homeland Security Today the White House effort will likely only impact the least sophisticated online radicalization efforts.

"It's impossible," said Hinn, who has developed and taught training courses in radical Islam for federal and local agencies. "They can't stop pedophiles online, so how do they plan to stop sophisticated online radicalization Websites, which might look completely legitimate at first glance."

According to Wiktorowicz, the administration also plans to work with industry -- particularly those companies that have been involved in online safety initiatives designed to counter fraud and identity theft -- to identify ways that online radicalization countermeasures can be designed without infringing on privacy and civil liberties.

“Companies already have developed voluntary measures to promote Internet safety ─ such as fraud warnings, identity protection and Internet safety tips ─ and we will collaborate with industry to explore how we might counter online violent extremism without interfering with lawful Internet use or the privacy and civil liberties of individual users,” stated Wiktorowicz. “This approach is consistent with Internet safety principles that have helped keep communities safe from a range of online threats, such as cyber bullies, scammers, gangs and sexual predators.”


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Homeland Security Today: White House Moves to Counter Online Radicalization

I would like to see a full and detailed list of exactly who they consider to be the "communities" they are going to work with and which "civic groups" they plan to work with.

They don't use the word Americans nor do they use the word citizens in their releases.

The only place they use the word citizen is in sovereign citizen. This reminds me of the globalist propaganda we keep seeing with term "stakeholders".

W