Operation Earnest Voice

Operation Earnest Voice is an astroturfing campaign by the US government. The aim of the initiative is to use sockpuppets to spread pro-American propaganda on social networking sites based outside of the US to "counter extremist ideology and propaganda and to ensure that credible voices in the region [Middle East] are heard".^[1][2][3][4] According to the United States Military Central Command (CENTCOM), which covers the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, the US-based Facebook and Twitter networks are not targeted by the program because US laws prohibit US state agencies from spreading propaganda among US citizens as according to the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012.^[5] However, Isaac R. Porche, a researcher at the RAND corporation, claims it would not be easy to exclude US audiences when dealing with internet communications.^[4]

Details of the program

The US government signed a $2.8 million contract with the Ntrepid web-security company to develop a specialized software, allowing agents of the government to post propaganda on "foreign-language websites".

Main characteristics of the software, as stated in the software development request,^[6] are:

• 50 user "operator" licenses, 10 sockpuppets controllable by each user.
• Sockpuppets are to be "replete with background, history, supporting details, and cyber presences that are technically, culturally and geographically consistent". Sockpuppets are to "be able to appear to originate in nearly any part of the world."
• A special secure VPN, allowing sockpuppets to appear to be posting from "randomly selected IP addresses," in order to "hide the existence of the operation."
• 50 static IP addresses to enable government agencies to "manage their persistent online personas," with identities of government and enterprise organizations protected which will allow for different state agents to use the same sockpuppet, and easily switch between different sockpuppets to "look like ordinary users as opposed to one organization."
• 9 private servers, "based on the geographic area of operations the customer is operating within and which allow a customer's online persona(s) to appear to originate from." These servers should use commercial hosting centers around the world.
• Virtual machine environments, deleted after each session termination, to avoid interaction with "any virus, worm, or malicious software."

See also

• Astroturfing
• Sockpuppet (Internet)
  • State-sponsored internet sockpuppetry

References

1. Fielding, Nick; Cobain, Ian (17 March 2011). "Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
2. Lee, Amy (17 March 2011). "U.S. Military Launches Spy Operation Using Fake Online Identities". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
3. Spillius, Alex (17 March 2013). "Pentagon buys social networking 'spy software'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
4. Smithson, S. (1 March 2011). "U.S. Central Command ‘friending’ the enemy in psychological war". The Washington Times. p. 2. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
5. "House Resolution 5736" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2014.
6. The request for web-brigade software development by US government, June 2010 (dead; available at this page)