Homeland Security Given Green Light to Monitor American Journalists

The Blaze ^ | January 9, 2012 | Tiffany Gabbay

[Fitzy_888]

Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative that emerged from the Department of Homeland Security in November, Washington has written permission to collect and retain personal information from journalists, news anchors, reporters or anyone who uses “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.”

According to DHS, the definition of personal identifiable information can consist of any intellect “that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information which is linked or linkable to that individual.”

RT adds:

"Previously established guidelines within the administration say that data could only be collected under authorization set forth by written code, but the new provisions in the NOC’s write-up means that any reporter, whether someone along the lines of Walter Cronkite or a budding blogger, can be victimized by the agency."

"Also included in the roster of those subjected to the spying are government officials, domestic or not, who make public statements, private sector employees that do the same and “persons known to have been involved in major crimes of Homeland Security interest,” which to itself opens up the possibilities even wider."

"The department says that they will only scour publically-made info available while retaining data, but it doesn’t help but raise suspicion as to why the government is going out of their way to spend time, money and resources on watching over those that helped bring news to the masses."

According to RT, the website “Fast Company” reports that the NOC Monitoring Initiative has been in play since at least early-2010 and that the data is being shared with both private sector businesses and international third parties.

[philman_36]

...anyone who uses “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.”
How is "anyone" supposed to know if they even have an audience?
Are those who read this thread the "audience" of the writer of this article or are they the "audience" of the person who posted this article?
And if somebody reads through this thread and happen to read my reply then does that reader constitute my audience? Do I even have an audience if they don't even read this reply?

You guys in DC have really screwed the pooch with this one. This "Initiative" has got as many holes in it as our border with Mexico does.

See Appendix A (starting at page 14) for the list of sites that the NOC will start to monitor in order to provide situational awareness and establish a common operating picture under this Initiative.
Please keep this in mind also...

Initial sites listed may link to other sites not listed. The NOC may also monitor those sites if they are within the scope of this Initiative.
So in the end everything on the Internet is subject to this Initiative.

[tips up]

But they won’t monitor a militant Muslim (Major Hassan) in the US Army...

[OldMissileer]

The US version of the Stasi.

We must vote in enough conservatives to shut this whole agency down and ensure all the employees never work for a Government organization again.

[apoliticalone]

I don’t see any of the entrenched interests or candidates or Obama reversing this trend to put Americans into the cross hairs, except possibly one. The biggest threat to the USA comes from inside, fiscal and power mongers. Americans are not the threat yet we been made the target.

[apoliticalone]

In PA Rendell had an Israeli firm spying on citizens and Tea Partiers. Can’t think of the name IRCC or something similar.

[opentalk]

The TSA (DHS) advertised job openings on Pizza boxes. They seem to intentionally recruited people that will not intellectually question them and robotically follow procedure.

[CelesteChristi]

Islamists run DHS. Documented and No Joke.

[1010RD]

Who gave them written permission?

[1010RD]

Exactly. We swallow it whole when the Admins in ‘our’ hands.

[1010RD]

To keep us safe? There’s no limit to how safe you can make someone. The American government’s job is to preserve my liberty.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Fitzy_888.

[MarkL]

Not to worry... DHS will only monitor journalists that are critical of the Obama regime, so this will have no effect on the mainstream media.

Mark

[MWS]

“Safe” was a poor choice of words — I was posting in a hurry.

To clarify, I meant the type of safety that allows for the sort of stability which makes liberty possible. It’s nigh impossible to be free without order of some sort.

It is obviously easy to take that too far, however. I was not supporting the nanny state but merely pointing out that the very laws which underlie a nanny state can easily be turned against the people themselves.

[Old Sarge]

We’re all going to get a workout sometime.

This month, I am getting a legally-obtained handgun with hopefully a CCW permit. Just have to see how FLA Law reacts.

[jarofants]

You LEFT out the company that does not have to pay taxes in America. GE.

[Steve Newton]

Smile

Go for it

And stay with me Sarge

It will all work out. And if not-——well we would have done our duty.

And thats all that can be asked of us

[1010RD]

Agreed and not looking to pick on you. I just worry that a new generation doesn’t understand the meaning of words. We’re losing a lot to crazy people. How is that happening?

[Old Sarge]

Ogod, you’re right. Along with Yahoo-Obama, Google-Obama, YouTube-Obama, we have GE-Obama.

[MWS]

It was a valid concern -- I actually appreciated the opportunity to clarify. :)

We’re losing a lot to crazy people. How is that happening?

I honest to goodness wish I knew... I really do.

[jayrunner]

I read the 23 page directive from Homeland Security. I wondered how the Germans and Italians ceded power to Hilter and Missolini. Now I know. And now I’ve done it too.

All in the name of a safer society. After all, if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear. Right!

According to the directive, even posting this could be considered “dangerous.”

There is no one to protect us except ourselves.