14 DAY TRIAL // The National Security Agency has been gathering records on a number of people regarding their online sexual activity and evidence of visits made to adult websites as part of a plan to harm their reputation, a new leaked document indicates.
This is probably the news that everyone was waiting for ever since the entire NSA scandal began back in June – a blatant disregard for privacy with the purpose of shaming and smearing the people they chose to target.
According to the Huffington Post, the document identifies six targets, all Muslims. They are all marked up as examples of how personal vulnerabilities can be tracked via electronic surveillance and then exploited to undermine credibility, reputation and authority.
The targets the NSA set eyes on seem to be radicals dedicated to the jihadist cause and exposing their private activities would lead to loss of authority. “It stands to reason that exploiting vulnerabilities of character, credibility, or both, of the radicalizer and his message could be enhanced by an understanding of the vehicles he uses to disseminate his message to the susceptible pool of people and where he is vulnerable in terms of access,” the file reveals.
Furthermore, the people targeted by the NSA are not accused of being involved in terror plots, which means the agency simply sought out material to use in case of necessity.
Steward Baker, a former general counsel for the NSA and Homeland Security official in the Bush administration, sees nothing wrong with the idea. “If people are engaged in trying to recruit folks to kill Americans and we can discredit them, we ought to,” he said.
Of course, who’s to say that the six individuals mentioned by the file are the only ones the National Security Agency dug up dirt on? There are many who believe that the agency has such files on all US politicians.