Dem PAC to use anti-terror technology to counter Trump’s campaign


Dem PAC to use anti-terror technology to counter Trump's campaign

A Democrat-aligned political action committee is planning to deploy technology initially developed to counter terrorist propaganda to combat President Trump’s campaign messages about the coronavirus – an effort that will benefit his challenger, Joe Biden, according to a report.

The group, Defeat Disinfo, is being advised by retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former head of US forces in Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported Friday.

They will use artificial intelligence to map out Trump’s claims on social media and then attempt to build a counter-narrative through a network of 3.4 million influencers across the country – even paying some users with large followings to oppose the president.

“It’s often said campaigns are a battle of ideas, but they’re really a battle of narratives,” David Eichenbaum, a Democratic media consultant who is a senior adviser to the PAC, told the newspaper. “Today those narratives spread quickly online.”

Tech expert Chiris Hougland, who received initial funding from DARPA, the Pentagon’s research arm, as part of an endeavor to fight terrorism overseas is heading up the initiative.

The project raised questions whether social media platforms have rules that would hamper Hougland’s work.

A Facebook spokesperson told Fox News that “our policies require creators and publishers to tag business partners in their branded content posts when there’s an exchange of value between a creator or publisher and a business partner.”

Twitter launched its Political Campaigning Policy in 2018 that promises transparency for paid political communications, Fox News said.

It requires “advertisers who want to run political campaigning ads for Federal elections to self-identify and certify that they are located in the US, candidates and committees will have to provide their FEC ID, and non-FEC registered organizations and individuals will have to submit a notarized form.”

McChrystal, who was fired by President Obama in 2010, told the Washington Post that he sees no problem employing the anti-terror technology.

“Everyone wishes the Pandora’s box was closed and none of this existed, but it does,” said McChrystal, who hasn’t endorsed Biden.


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