Homeland Security's Internet Watch List

[Forgiven]

By Mark Hosenball | Reuters
22 hours ago

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document.

A "privacy compliance review" issued by DHS last November says that since at least June 2010, its national operations center has been operating a "Social Networking/Media Capability" which involves regular monitoring of "publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites and message boards."

The purpose of the monitoring, says the government document, is to "collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture."

Another blog on the list, Cryptome. . . was one of the first websites to post information related to the Homeland Security monitoring program.

While a DHS official involved in the monitoring program confirmed the authenticity of the list, officials authorized to speak for the Department did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Below are a handful of controversial sites included on DHS' 5-page list:

Danger Room (Wired)
Drudge Report
Facebook
Flickr
Huffington Post
Hulu
Informed Comment
JihadWatch
My Space
NY Times Lede Blog
The Blotter (ABC News)
Threat Level (Wired)
Twitter
WikiLeaks
Youtube


Blogs that cover:

bird flu
related to news and activity along US borders
drug trafficking and cybercrime
wildfires in Los Angeles
hurricanes
terrorism and security
issues related to Islam (where critics accuse the sites of political bias)


News and gossip sites


Homeland Security watches Twitter, social media - Yahoo! News

[Sean Osborne]

Yup, it's called Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) collection. That kind of OSINT collection has been going on for a very long time. Remember "Able Danger"?

The thing I noticed in one of the quotes is the uniquely military jargon - US Army jargon to be specific:

The purpose of the monitoring, says the government document, is to "collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture."

Situational Awareness (SA) and Common Operating Picture (COP) are uniquely Army terms that were coined in the transformational years between the liberation of Kuwait/Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s and the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Seems DHS has taken on a military flavor of late.

[arapahoepark]

figures. I see on there plenty of conservative sites.....

[Kenny64]

Yup, it's called Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) collection. That kind of OSINT collection has been going on for a very long time. Remember "Able Danger"?

The thing I noticed in one of the quotes is the uniquely military jargon - US Army jargon to be specific:



Situational Awareness (SA) and Common Operating Picture (COP) are uniquely Army terms that were coined in the transformational years between the liberation of Kuwait/Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s and the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Seems DHS has taken on a military flavor of late.

Sean:
Let's call this for what it is!
SPYING : on the 1st by DHS and the federal govenment.

[BrotherKev]

We're watching too!

We read these forums to remain informed, just like the Dept. of Homeland Security does. It may be a surprise to many, but some parts of our government actually do work.
They're looking for 'bad guys' and there are way too many sites for anyone to watch alone.
Whatever our government is doing to protect and secure this nation provides us with a place to live and worship freely.

So, just pull up a seat in front of the barber shop like Grandpa used to do, and watch the traffic.

Seriously though:
Rom 13:1-4 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.