Those Evil Memes

[Rotobeast]

The Feds are going to save us from all the evil memes.

http://www.activistpost.com/2016/02/feds-pouring-money-into-a-project-to-create-a-database-to-track-suspicious-internet-memes.html

Quote:Feds Pouring Money Into a Project to Create a Database to Track “Suspicious” Internet Memes

TOPICS:InternetJohn VibesSurveillance

February 14, 2016

By John Vibes
The federal government spent $1 million to create an online database that will collect “suspicious” memes and track “misinformation.” The project, which is known as the “Truthy Database” is being funded by The National Science Foundation, but it seems as if the operation has some powerful political motivations.
Ironically enough, the project takes its name from a term that was popularized by television personality, Stephen Colbert.
The project will seek to understand how misinformation is spread online, but it will be up to a team of government-funded researchers at Indiana University to decide what type of political speech is true and which is false.

According to the grant for the project, the operation will be open source and the database will be open to the public.
“The project stands to benefit both the research community and the public significantly. Our data will be made available via [application programming interfaces] APIs and include information on meme propagation networks, statistical data, and relevant user and content features. The open-source platform we develop will be made publicly available and will be extensible to ever more research areas as a greater preponderance of human activities are replicated online. Additionally, we will create a web service open to the public for monitoring trends, bursts, and suspicious memes. This service could mitigate the diffusion of false and misleading ideas, detect hate speech and subversive propaganda, and assist in the preservation of open debate,” the grant said.
However, the database has yet to actually go online, and they have not followed through with the promise of making their information open source.

The website for the project goes on to explain the importance of memes in their research, and their intentions to find out exactly where certain memes originate.
“While the vast majority of memes arise in a perfectly organic manner, driven by the complex mechanisms of life on the Web, some are engineered by the shady machinery of high-profile congressional campaigns,” the website stated.
The project focuses on Twitter specifically, but will also be reaching into Facebook, Instagram and other sites in their data mining operations.
This may not be the most money that the government has spent on a frivolous project, but it shows that they really are willing to funnel large sums of money into programs that accomplish nothing. Also, this project exposes the extent of the federal government’s paranoia about dissent and alternative political information.
Also Read:

• Social Media Surveillance Expands as IBM Taps Twitter
• Instagram Joins Trend of Social Media Surveillance
  

[*]
John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can purchase his books, or get your own book published at his website www.JohnVibes.com.

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[*bfine32*]

Dino and Zona are screwed.

[mallorian69]

So much for free speech

[StLucieBengal]

Funny that they are doing this .... Russia recently banned memes. Must be a worldwide war on memes

Bfine is right Dino and Zona's internet time will soon have a lot of openings.

[SunsetBengal]

Ha! As long as the study if being performed at IU, the libs are screwed!

[Sovereign Nation]

So much for those cute little memes that are posted in responses to people's post.

Some of them even moved.

[Vlad]

Lois Lerner gets a new job.
The accurate memes, most of which come from the right will be banned, while the ones that just depict lies, most of which come from the left will be allowed to remain.
...so Dino and Zona will be in good shape.

[GMDino]

(02-15-2016, 10:22 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Dino and Zona are screwed.

(02-15-2016, 11:15 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Funny that they are doing this ....  Russia recently banned memes.   Must be a worldwide war on memes

Bfine is right Dino and Zona's internet time will soon have a lot of openings.  

(02-16-2016, 06:21 AM)Vlad Wrote: Lois Lerner gets a new job.
The accurate memes, most of which come from the right will be banned, while the ones that just depict lies, most of which come from the left will be allowed to remain.
...so Dino and Zona will be in good shape.

[Benton]

(02-16-2016, 06:21 AM)Vlad Wrote: Lois Lerner gets a new job.
The accurate memes, most of which come from the right will be banned, while the ones that just depict lies, most of which come from the left will be allowed to remain.
...so Dino and Zona will be in good shape.

The link from the link said this was passed in 2011. The House was controlled by Republicans in 2011. The right passed it, too. In the years since then, the GOP has gotten control of both sides, but they haven't stopped this.

Soooo... no. And by allowing it, it seems like the right must think this is an acceptable use of taxpayer dollars. I disagree.

[StLucieBengal]

(02-16-2016, 11:47 AM)Benton Wrote: The link from the link said this was passed in 2011. The House was controlled by Republicans in 2011. The right passed it, too. In the years since then, the GOP has gotten control of both sides, but they haven't stopped this.

Soooo... no. And by allowing it, it seems like the right must think this is an acceptable use of taxpayer dollars. I disagree.

democrats and establishment GOP still love to spend and love to take away freedoms. They are the same in that way.

[GMDino]

(02-16-2016, 06:21 AM)Vlad Wrote: Lois Lerner gets a new job.
The accurate memes, most of which come from the right will be banned, while the ones that just depict lies, most of which come from the left will be allowed to remain.
...so Dino and Zona will be in good shape.

(02-16-2016, 11:47 AM)Benton Wrote: The link from the link said this was passed in 2011. The House was controlled by Republicans in 2011. The right passed it, too. In the years since then, the GOP has gotten control of both sides, but they haven't stopped this.

Soooo... no. And by allowing it, it seems like the right must think this is an acceptable use of taxpayer dollars. I disagree.

(02-16-2016, 11:52 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: democrats and establishment GOP still love to spend and love to take away freedoms.    They are the same in that way.

[StLucieBengal]

(02-16-2016, 11:56 AM)GMDino Wrote:

Show me where I am wrong about how Dems and est GOP being the same in spending and anti civil liberties. They basically vote lockstep on most issues anyway.

[Benton]

(02-16-2016, 11:56 AM)GMDino Wrote:

Welcome to the 'no fly' list.

[GMDino]

(02-16-2016, 12:46 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Show me where I am wrong about how Dems and est GOP being the same in spending and anti civil liberties.   They basically vote lockstep on most issues anyway.

Anytime someone suggests that the GOP did something you jump in and say they are actually acting like the "Dems".  Or...they are progressives.

[GMDino]

(02-16-2016, 01:02 PM)Benton Wrote: Welcome to the 'no fly' list.

Works for me!  I hate flying!

Although I *was* pulled out of line to be searched coming back from Mexico five years ago!

Now it all makes sense!

[fredtoast]

(02-16-2016, 12:46 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Show me where I am wrong about how Dems and est GOP being the same in spending and anti civil liberties.   They basically vote lockstep on most issues anyway.

Wasn't Same Sex Marriage a civil liberties issue?

[fredtoast]

Anyone claiming that this is taking away any rights in any way please explain.

Because I have not seen how it will do that in any way.

Information is a powerful tool.  Look at the success that ISIS has had in recruiting over the internet.  I don't say any of this speech should be banned, and I don't see anything in this law that says it will.  But it is a good idea to know what is happening in the world around us.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I took the article as that this is a study to see just how guilible the average American Citizen is and not as a way to squash Free Speech.

[Benton]

(02-16-2016, 01:09 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Anyone claiming that this is taking away any rights in any way please explain.

Because I have not seen how it will do that in any way.

Information is a powerful tool.  Look at the success that ISIS has had in recruiting over the internet.  I don't say any of this speech should be banned, and I don't see anything in this law that says it will.  But it is a good idea to know what is happening in the world around us.

I don't see it as any free speech restriction. On the other hand, I don't really like wasting a $1 million on cataloging meme's. If it's for security reason, that's a little better. But at the same time, give me a third of that and I'll set around all day downloading pictures of dinosaurs with funny sayings or pics of people dropping things under the slogan "thanks, Obama."

[StLucieBengal]

(02-16-2016, 01:07 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Wasn't Same Sex Marriage a civil liberties issue?

Marriage overall is the government taking away the freedom to marry who we choose without arbitrary hurdles set by The gov.

The most freedom position would be to take away all gov regulations on marriage and leave it to consenting adults.