Glenn Greenwald, Ryan Grim and Ryan Gallagher’s report on the NSA’s plan to embarrass “radicalizers” by collecting their online activities shows the agency focused in part on whether they used porn: The knowledge that such a person looked at explicit material online might dilute their message somewhat, documents leaked by Edward Snowden say.
But porn use isn’t the only vulnerability the NSA is looking for (bold text mine):
One target’s offending argument is that “Non-Muslims are a threat to Islam,” and a vulnerability listed against him is “online promiscuity.” Another target, a foreign citizen the NSA describes as a “respected academic,” holds the offending view that “offensive jihad is justified,” and his vulnerabilities are listed as “online promiscuity” and “publishes articles without checking facts.” A third targeted radical is described as a “well-known media celebrity” based in the Middle East who argues that “the U.S perpetrated the 9/11 attack.” Under vulnerabilities, he is said to lead “a glamorous lifestyle.” A fourth target, who argues that “the U.S. brought the 9/11 attacks on itself” is said to be vulnerable to accusations of “deceitful use of funds.” The document expresses the hope that revealing damaging information about the individuals could undermine their perceived “devotion to the jihadist cause.”
