The United States should do more to stem the radicalization that seems to be happening via the internet. That's according to the Bipartisan Policy Center which published an article titled In Wake of Bombings, Strategy to Counter Online Radicalization in the Spotlight. They wisely counsel against restricting freedom of speech or removing content. But instead they say the extremists online communications should be exploited for intelligence purposes, all within the letter of the law, of course.
Here's an excerpt:
Government should accelerate the establishment of informal partnerships to assist large Internet companies in understanding national security threats as well as trends and patterns in terrorist communications so companies become more conscious of emerging threats, key individuals and organizations, and find it easier to align their takedown efforts with national security priorities.
One is tempted to ask, isn't this being done already?
If there's a lesson we've learned from the Presidential election of 2012 it's that when the brightest psychologists, technology experts and data analysts in the country are in the tank for a candidate, and they apply those skills to all the data available about each individual internet user, they can manipulate the minds of the masses to get a person elected President.
The challenge for us is to get those wizards as motivated about protecting Americans as they were about winning the election.
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