Twittering the Internet Intifada
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In London, never mind the heavy cuts in security and defense spending, more money is being allocated "to protect Britain against cyber warfare".
Additionally, the British MI5 and MI6 intelligence agencies, as well as the Police, are constantly seeking new, young, hi-tech and Internet-savvy recruits to improve their monitoring of cyber communications.
The British government's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, has told the ongoing Iraq War Inquiry in London that while the traditional security services earlier ignored the social networking sites, the police are now giving them much closer attention.
Pointing to Egypt (before Mubarak's departure), he said the protest organizers, using the social networks, had made the police look "amateurish".
O'Donnell said London's security and intelligence services were now using "Internet intelligence", not only to track and thwart protests and plots by "violent elements", but also to "prevent gang violence, investigate teenage murders and fight organized crime".
The top UK official recommended that the General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – the UK government's secret nationwide listening station – should now also be officially tasked with monitoring the Internet and the social networks.
"This is a different world and we need to be tuned into that world," O'Donnell told the Inquiry.
London's Chief Cabinet Secretary – who heads the British Civil Service – said he would ask the nation's top security officials "to ensure that we're taping into all the best available information".
Therefore, it's not only on the Arab Street that the Internet has changed the state of the play and the rules of the game.
British and other Western security and intelligence agencies are also now recommending that government spies – at home and abroad – be instructed to open and police citizens' private Facebook, Twitter and other accounts.
To the New Media mavericks, a revolution is now possible – and any government can be changed – through a simple click!
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/node_7107878.htm
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn
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