By Ethan Huff and originally posted at newstarget.com
Federal contracting documents reviewed by
The Intercept show that
U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is ramping up its efforts to
unleash internet propaganda and other deception campaigns online using
deepfake videos.
The entity responsible for some of America’s most secretive military
operations, SOCOM is also gearing up to hack people’s internet-connected
devices in order to eavesdrop on how they respond to said propaganda –
will they believe the deepfakes are real?
The news comes at a time of intense global debate over the use of
technologically sophisticated “disinformation” campaigns, their
effectiveness on the masses, and the ethics of their use. The United
States government is constantly warning about the risk of deepfakes
while at the same time deploying them as weapons against the population.
For SOCOM to be using deepfakes in this manner is unprecedented.
Never before has any government openly signaled its intentions to use
the highly controversial technology as an offensive weapon for
unleashing next-generation propaganda.
“When it comes to disinformation, the Pentagon should not be fighting
fire with fire,” says Chris Meserole, head of the Brookings
Institution’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology
Initiative.
“At a time when digital propaganda is on the rise globally, the U.S.
should be doing everything it can to strengthen democracy by building
support for shared notions of truth and reality. Deepfakes do the
opposite. By casting doubt on the credibility of all content and
information, whether real or synthetic, they ultimately erode the
foundation of democracy itself.”
Pentagon wants to use deepfakes to help soldiers “more effectively hunt and kill their targets”
According to Meserole, such technology should only be leveraged and
used for targeted military and intelligence operations after it has
undergone proper review and oversight. As you might imagine, this has
not happened with SOCOM’s deployment of deepfake weapons technology.
“If deepfakes are going to be leveraged for targeted military and
intelligence operations, then their use needs to be subject to review
and oversight,” Meserole is further quoted as saying.
First published in 2020, a pitch document published by SOCOM’s
Directorate of Science and Technology contains a wish list of
next-generation toys, so to speak, that the military-industrial complex
hopes to deploy so its most elite soldiers can more effectively “hunt
and kill their targets using lasers, robots, holographs, and other
sophisticated hardware.”
Last October, SOCOM released an updated version of this wish list
that contains a new section about “Advanced technologies for use in
Military Information Support Operations (MISO),” which The Intercept says is “a Pentagon euphemism for its global propaganda and deception efforts.”
The one simple paragraph that was added outlines with further clarity
SOCOM’s efforts to obtain more advanced methods of carrying out
“influence operations, digital deception, communication disruption, and
disinformation campaigns at the tactical edge and operational levels.”
SOCOM is also seeking “a next generation capability to collect
disparate data through public and open-source information streams such
as social media, local media, etc. to enable MISO to craft and direct
influence operations.”
Up until now, SOCOM has mostly operated in the shadows, unbeknownst
to the average person. It is comprised of elite units from many branches
of the military including the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force,
leading the most sensitive military operations in the world’s most
lethal nations.
“While American special forces are widely known for splashy exploits
like the Navy SEALs’ killing of Osama bin Laden, their history is one of
secret missions, subterfuge, sabotage, and disruption campaigns,”
writes Sam Biddle for The Intercept.
“SOCOM’s ‘next generation’ disinformation ambitions are only part of a
long, vast history of deception efforts on the part of the U.S.
military and intelligence apparatuses.”
