Stuff like this always makes me wonder how good the surveillance state actually is. I mean, a bunch of hillbillies planned an insurrection on Facebook for fucks sake.
FBI Made 'Inappropriate Use' of Foreign Surveillance Program To Spy on Americans
Submitted 1 year ago by HLMenckenFan@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
NegativeLookBehind@kbin.social 1 year ago
RangerAndTheCat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Well like always the “hillbillies” are probably hand in hand with the insurrectionists.
“Some of those that work forces. Are the same that burn crosses” - RATM
Bipta@kbin.social 1 year ago
Also,
Zack de la Rocha sometimes changes the lyrics in the second verse from "Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses" to "Some of those that burn crosses are the same that hold office" when playing live.
NegativeLookBehind@kbin.social 1 year ago
Yup, no doubt.
plz1@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I think that’s a bit misleading, TBH. The attack was fairly well planned, and far from just a bunch of hillbillies. Yeah, they were a part of it, and part of the plan, but summarizing them as the brains behind the coup attempt is undercutting the risk of it being tried again.
DrDeadCrash@programming.dev 1 year ago
Which just furthers op’s main point, really. I mean it was fairly well planned in a fairly overt fashion, why weren’t they prepared?
NegativeLookBehind@kbin.social 1 year ago
Definitely wasn't saying they were the brains. But the message was communicated to them via Facebook. They actively participated in the conspiracy, which took place on Facebook. My point is, the data was there, and it wasn't acted upon for some reason.
Vorticity@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Every time a program like this is pushed through and people say that there are safeguards to prevent abuse, remember this. They claimed there were safeguards here too.
HLMenckenFan@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Abolish the FBI.
TheEntity@kbin.social 1 year ago
I like how it's suddenly a problem only when they do this to Americans for a change.
Bipta@kbin.social 1 year ago
I like how when American laws are broken in America it becomes an issue for Americans
Ftfy. Everyone is spying on other countries all of the time; the US is just one of the most capable in that capacity but not different in its aims.
TheEntity@kbin.social 1 year ago
Of course they do. It just baffles me how it's always a sudden outrage when they happen to do to "us" what they normally openly do to "them" which is considered totally fine. Not really specific to FBI and USA, except they are the biggest in this game, as you've mentioned, so we hear mostly about them, and maybe China or Russia.
ggBarabajagal@lemmy.world 1 year ago
FISA stands for “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.” By definition, it’s only supposed to be used in the surveillance of people foreign to the U.S.A. The FBI’s job is domestic law enforcement. It’s the FBI’s job to investigate crime involving U.S. citizens.
Officially, the NSA does not spy on U.S. citizens. You can believe whatever you want about whether it actually “unofficially” does, but unless you do a lot of business overseas, chances are high that Google and Amazon and Facebook all have collected way more personal information about you than the NSA has.
Even if the NSA does surveil U.S. citizens, it can’t use any information it obtains in any legal or political way, or in any otherwise public manner.
If a U.S. citizen has communications with a foreigner, however, it is possible that those communications will be surveilled. The NSA does spy on foreign citizens, just like foreign intelligence agencies spy on U.S. citizens. If you’re a U.S. citizen communicating with a foreigner who’s being surveilled, then your communications with that person are going to be surveilled as well.
But again, it’s not the FBI’s job to police international crime – that’s the job of the CIA. As the article describes, this is why it is a bad idea for the FBI to be using FISA intelligence. This is why “it’s a problem when they do it to Americans.”
TheEntity@kbin.social 1 year ago
Interesting, thanks for this context! Then if I understand correctly that FBI spied on a USA citizen but in an international matter. So it's not really relevant that one party was a USA citizen: what is relevant is that since the other party wasn't, so it wasn't FBI's job. Did it get it right?
ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I expected more out of the people who do this sort of shit all the time and never face consequences, much less meaningful reforms.
Repossess6855@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
In other news; water is wet.
nix@merv.news 1 year ago
Whats with all the goatse inspired article images lately?
sexy_peach@feddit.de 1 year ago
I am a foreigner in the US so I don’t have any protection from spying anyways. Serves the US-americans right to be spied on as well.
Bipta@kbin.social 1 year ago
And we have no protections from your government, so I guess it serves you right you have no protections?
You raise a good point, but the way you raise it fosters a race to the bottom.
goffy59@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I wish they could catch all the traitors of the country who raided our capitol. Fucking idiots, all of them deserve jail. I hope they use FISA to find them and the foreign money as well. Most of crooks in the republican party have connections to foreign governments.
housepanther@lemmy.goblackcat.com 1 year ago
I hope nobody is truly shocked by this. Outraged? Yes, but shocked no. The US 3 letter agencies have a long history of overreach. Our elected officials are complicit in this all in the false name of “public safety” and “anti-terrorism” when their is little empirical evidence to suggest either mission is being accomplished. Instead, we have agencies profiling Americans on a massive scale that would make Brezhnev of the USSR jealous if he were alive today.
Jamie@jamie.moe 1 year ago
Can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to be Edward Snowden, give up a lucrative future in government work to do the right thing and put the word out, be hunted for the rest of your life by Uncle Sam. The collective response to your sacrifice was a big fat “meh”
housepanther@lemmy.goblackcat.com 1 year ago
Sadly, you would be correct. Edward Snowden sacrificed his life to help us only to be met with nothing in return.
001100010010@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
All he wanted was to let people know. What people decide to do with the information is up to the people. He achieved his goals, it isn’t his problem if people just ignore his message.