Masked Battlefield--U.S. Information Warfare and the Shadow of Facebook (early 2010s)

Masked Battlefield--U.S. Information Warfare and the Shadow of Facebook (early 2010s)

In the early 2010s, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) deployed Operation Earnest Voice, a psychological operation. The objective was to counter extremist propaganda by using fake online personas to spread pro-American views on foreign-language social networking sites. Operators manipulated up to a dozen fake accounts, giving each a consistent cultural and geographic setting, using VPNs and static IPs to make it look like posts were coming from all over the world, and covering their tracks on a virtual machine. The development was contracted to California firm Ntrepid, with a contract value of approximately $2.76 million.

Although CENTCOM emphasized that these activities did not target U.S. citizens, information waves cross borders: even on Facebook, the manipulation of public opinion by fake accounts from other countries became an issue. Furthermore, in 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security used Facebook to conduct an operation to direct immigrants to a fictitious university; more than 170 people were arrested. Thus, social networking has become the new battleground for information warfare under a mask. The battle for trust and transparency was proceeding quietly but surely.