The Department of Homeland Security posted a request seeking bid offers from contractors on FedBizOpps.gov to set up a database that would create a database to track and collect information on Journalists, bloggers and "media influencers."the idea manifested from concerns about "fake news" and its influence on U.S. elections and public opinion. The bid from DHS asks contractors to contact two DHS staffers via email.
The company chosen would have "24/7 access to a password protected, media influencer database, including journalist, editors, correspondents, social media influencers, bloggers, etc.for the purpose of identifying “any and all media coverage related to the Department of Homeland Security or a particular event.”
Despite what some reporters may suggest, this is nothing more than the standard practice of monitoring current events in the media. Any suggestion otherwise is fit for tin foil hat wearing, black helicopter conspiracy theorists. https://t.co/XGgFFH3Ppl— Tyler Q. Houlton (@SpoxDHS) April 6, 2018
Contractors bidding for the project must “present contact details and any other information that could be relevant including publications this influencer writes for, and an over of the previous coverage published by the influencer.”
The chosen company must have the ability to track more than 250,000 global news outlets in more than 100 languages, with the “ability to create unlimited data tracking, statistical breakdown, and graphical analyses on an ad-hoc basis.”
Contractor bids are said to be due April 13.
This should scare anyone who believes in freedom of the press. Presidents change and the chance of abuse of this database and its effects on truth tellers is worrying, to say the least.
0 comments:
Post a Comment