Facebook says a DHS policy that lets agents create fake profiles to monitor foreigners is against the company's rules requiring use of real names for accounts
Since then, Facebook has built a track record of purging fake personas regardless of who runs them, from an Iranian hacking campaign targeting defense and aerospace personnel to people linked to France's military meddling in African politics. Publicly naming DHS extends that enforcement logic from foreign adversaries to a domestic agency.
First-order effects
DHS agents running fake profiles now face the same enforcement pipeline as any other violator — account removals that would disrupt ongoing monitoring of foreigners.
Second-order effects
Other agencies and foreign governments watching this standoff gain a test case for demanding exemptions, while DHS may shift toward monitoring methods that don't require platform accounts at all.
Third-order effects
Platforms are being pushed into the role of arbiters over which state actors may operate covertly online, turning terms-of-service enforcement into a lever in government surveillance disputes.
The trend: Platform identity rules are colliding head-on with government surveillance practice, forcing states to either negotiate covert access or build workarounds outside major networks.
Facebook says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be violating the company's rules if agents create fake profiles to monitor the social media of foreigners seeking to enter the country. h/t @SimonWDC https://apnews.com/...
Facebook won't let Homeland Security create fake profiles to monitor people entering the country @AP reporting https://katu.com/... https://twitter.com/...
.@facebook says it's informed @DHSgov that agents would be violating platform rules if they create fictitious accounts to monitor social media of foreigners seeking visas, green cards & citizenship https://www.apnews.com/... A followup to @AP's Friday report on this being allowed…
Facebook said that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would be violating the company's rules if agents create fake profiles to monitor the social media of foreigners seeking to enter the country. http://technology.inquirer.net/ ...
USG faces serious capability gaps when trying to detect or counter hostile foreign actors operating on private platforms. The hurdles became clear in the context of countering ISIS in 2015. It's why public-private info sharing is the only way forward. https://apnews.com/...
Use of fake accounts/websites, altered video/audio/text and all other means of fraudulent representation have no place in a democracy. Period. https://twitter.com/...