Social media influencers are sharing their tricks - for a fee
Social media influencers are sharing their tricks - for a fee
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FBI purchases 5,000 licenses for Babel X social media OSINT tool
Written by John Hewitt JonesApr 5, 2022 | FEDSCOOP
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has purchased 5,000 licenses for an analytics tool for gathering open-source intelligence from multiple social media platforms.
Virginia-based Panamerica Computers will provide the law enforcement agency with licenses for Babel X, according to details published on SAM.gov on March 11. Babel X is a text analytics platform that allows users to search multiple online media websites and search by location.
The software is sold by AI data company Babel Street, which is led by Jeffrey Chapman, a former Treasury Department official. Earlier in his career, Chapman was a White House aide and intelligence officer at the Department of Defense, according to LinkedIn.
In documents issued during the procurement process, the FBI said that prospective vendors would need to offer a tool that can search a wide range of different social media websites in multiple languages. The award of the licenses could be worth up to $27 million.
“The tool shall be able to gather information from the following mandatory online and social media data sources: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Deep/Dark Web, VK, and Telegram,” the bureau said. It added that the ability to search Snapchat, TikTok. Reddit, 8Kun, Gab, Parler, ask.fm, Weibo, Discord. and “additional fringe platforms, and other encrypted messaging platforms,” would be a bonus.
In procurement documents, the FBI said information collected from online sources through the tool should be retained in the vendor’s systems before being exported to the bureau, and that the system should be able to continuously monitor sources.
The tool was sought by the Strategic Technology Unit within the FBI’s Directorate of Intelligence, which is responsible for managing internet search tools for social media exploitation of publicly available information.
The FBI’s Directorate of Intelligence is in the process of developing a comprehensive strategy that matches the social media exploitation needs of the agency’s workforce and mission, according to procurement documents.
News of the Babel X contract award was first reported by The Washington Post.
Details of the award come amid heightened interest from privacy groups in the monitoring of social media by federal government agencies. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security was hit with a lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation over its social media data collection program for visa applicants and other foreign visitors.
According to the nonprofit’s complaint, VLVI is a multimillion-dollar immigration screening and vetting program used by DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In response to a request for comment, the FBI said: “The FBI uses social media tools to search publicly available information pertinent to predicated investigations in order to identify and respond to threats of violence, acts of terrorism, and potential federal violations within the scope of the FBI’s mission.”
This story was updated to include comment from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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Navigating Through Social Media Without Compromising Your Mental Health
Dr. Jeff J. Rocker Celebrity Therapist of Rocker Management Inc.
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These days, having a social media presence is pretty much non-negotiable if you’re a leader in your industry; Hollywood figures, professional athletes, recording artists, political candidates and household-name business executives all maintain accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. For celebrities and individuals with high visibility, social media is an important component to building a brand, enabling them to put out messaging and content that promote unique products (including upcoming movies, albums or sports events), values and career goals.
Social Media Is A Double-Edged Sword
However, social media isn’t all engaging content and positive messaging. In fact, the links between social media usage and anxiety and depression are well-documented in clinical literature. While selective aspects of social media (such as receiving “likes” or shares) can provide a euphoria-inducing spike in dopamine and actually diminish depression and anxiety, the reverse is also true: Negative experiences (encounters with social media “trolls,” hurtful or shaming comments) can adversely impact users’ mental health—as can social comparisons that are implicitly thrust upon all individuals who engage on these platforms.
How can individuals who require social media for career promotion and advancement—particularly celebrities, who are already subject to extensive public scrutiny—manage these platforms while avoiding the negative impacts? If you’re looking to use social media without compromising your mental health, here are some helpful strategies.
- Guard What You Post
Be selective about what you choose to share with the world. Some celebrities may not share information about their romantic relationships. Others, such as Prince Harry and the Duchess Meghan, rarely share photographs of their children. Keeping parts of your life to yourself—and out of the range of public consumption—can provide a healthy boundary between professional and personal. And, there are good security reasons for keeping knowledge of your private life out of the hands of people who may have ill intentions. What you share is up to you—just know that you don’t owe anyone a window into your private spaces.
- Every Post Should Have A Purpose
We’re all familiar with silly, attention-seeking posts, such as photographs of dinner plates, selfies in bathroom mirrors or hazy group shots designed to subtly signal popularity. There’s no need for empty content—that is, posts that don’t have a purpose other than just being out there. Make sure what you post is relevant to your brand, conveys the message you want and builds your reputation. Keeping your posts purposeful and focused will help you avoid unhelpful emotional involvement.
- Find Supportive Communities
One of the great benefits of social media is finding groups of individuals whom you might not otherwise have a chance to meet “in real life” due to geography or lack of shared connections but who nonetheless share common experiences and add value. Professional groups, athletic groups, coalitions of artists or musicians, chronic illness support groups—these communities can motivate, offer encouragement, lend an ear and provide ideas or suggestions to resolve issues all members have in common. Finding and engaging in these types of communities can allow you to meaningfully connect with others like you—which can provide emotional stability as well as building your brand.
- Don't Feed The Trolls
Ahhh, trolls. We’ve all had encounters with them—whether they seek to insult, threaten, instigate conflicts or spread disinformation, these bad actors are an unfortunate and ubiquitous feature of social media. Reading mean, mendacious and malevolent comments by trolls can send your heart-rate through the roof. Trying to engage with them is counter-productive: It just amplifies their negative messaging, and gives them satisfaction by allowing them to cause the drama they seek to foment. Don’t give these individuals a moment of your time. The best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them, suffocating them with a lack of attention. Alternately: Block them (though beware, they may pop up again under new avatars or aliases.)
- Take A Break
Sometimes, if social media becomes really unbearable, you need to take a breather. Many A-listers have, at one point or another, gone on a social media diet in order to step back, refresh themselves and get their heads out of the endless competition, gossip mongering and thoughtless commenting that represent the worst aspects of the most popular platforms. If you start feeling like social media is causing you more harm than good, it’s absolutely fine—encouraged, even—to take a step back and avoid logging in for a few days. If it’s imperative to your brand to have content posted on a certain schedule, have an assistant or trusted friend manage your social media for you so that you don’t have to deal with it for a while.
- Amplify The Positive
One way to leverage the best of social media is to use it as an agent of positive change. A great example of this is celebrities who use their platforms to raise awareness and much-needed funds for good causes, such as Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, who have together raised over $30 million to support Ukrainian refugees. Using your position to support positive initiatives that improve people’s lives is a great use for social media—and one that can, at the same time, boost your own feelings of well-being. Now, that’s what we call a “win-win.”
Never Compete With Anyone But Yourself
They say comparison is the thief of joy, and that’s never been more true than on social media, where the temptation to measure yourself against other people’s posts is almost irresistible. Remember that, like you, everyone posting is merely trying to create a certain social media persona; you never really know what’s going on behind that veneer.
Social media can be an asset to your brand or business if you use it correctly. Savvy social media users know that these platforms present a tool—a useful one, for brand-building and expanding your reach—but just that. Social media never reflects your talent, lovability or worth as a human, and keeping that in mind can foster a measure of mental peace.
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