The US National Security Agency (NSA) planned to discredit Islamist “radicals” by spying on their online pornography habits, the Huffington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a document leaked by ex-intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
The eavesdropping agency focused on how propagandists for the violent extremists could be undermined with evidence of hypocrisy, citing surveillance on six individuals as examples, according to the quoted NSA document.
“A previous SIGINT [signals intelligence assessment report] on radicalization indicated that radicalizers appear to be particularly vulnerable in the area of authority when their private and public behaviors are not consistent,” the document said. “Some of the vulnerabilities, if exposed, would likely call into question the radicalizer’s devotion to the jihadist cause, leading to the degradation or loss of his authority.”
A potentially damaging piece of evidence would show a militant “viewing sexually explicit material online or using sexually explicit persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls,” it said.
The leaked document is the latest in a cascade of revelations from Snowden revealing the NSA’s large-scale digital spying, which has provoked a global firestorm.
The six individuals targeted for NSA surveillance were seen as radical Muslims giving inflammatory speeches, but were not described in the document as linked to terror plots, the report said.
The Huffington Post withheld their identities and locations.
All six live outside the US, though one was described as a “US person,” meaning he is either a citizen or has permanent resident status.
Through electronic spying, the agency had found sexually explicit information about at least two of the people targeted, some of which was gleaned through FBI surveillance, according to the Huffington Post.
One of those targeted was described as a “respected academic” who has promoted the idea that “offensive jihad is justified.”
The NSA concluded that he is potentially vulnerable because of his alleged “online promiscuity” and that he publishes “articles without checking facts,” the report said.
The document did not indicate whether the NSA carried out the idea to discredit the men by leaking the information.
US intelligence agencies did not deny the report or question the validity of the document.
“Without discussing specific individuals, it should not be surprising that the US government uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalize others to violence,” said Shawn Turner, spokesman for the director of national intelligence.
“This report is an unwelcome reminder of what it means to give an intelligence agency unfettered access to individuals’ most sensitive information,” American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer said. “One ordinarily associates these kinds of tactics with the secret police services of authoritarian governments. That these tactics have been adopted by the world’s leading democracy ... is truly chilling.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese