NetPolitik: Information - Disinformation @OWS

OCCUPY COLLEGES:

NATIONAL COLLEGE STUDENT WALKOUT
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2011
12 NOON
supporting Occupy Wall Street

List of colleges participating

American Students 'walk out' for Occupy Wall Street [Examiner]

Students plan campus walkout in ‘solidarity’ with ‘Occupy Wall Street' [Daily Caller]

Occupy Colleges Plans National Walk Out Wednesday [Daily Californian]

Huge NYC Union March October 5

USA Jobs Party March October 5

Virtual March On Wall Street Oct. 5
sponsored by Rebuild the Dream & MoveOn.Org

Occupy CNN - 10/14
'Change The Channel" at CNN HQs in Atlanta, NY, LA, DC

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Can't you smell the cultural appropriation?

disInformation Wars

'Anonymous' vs Anonymous

An example of the disinformation/propaganda war swirling around Occupy Wall Street is the release of a communiqué purporting to be from "Anonymous" and entitled "Operation Invade Wall Street" declaring a cyber-attack on Wall Street firms in retaliation for the mass arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday, October 1.

This was quickly followed by the posting ANONYMOUS Message concerning Invade Wall Street at Pastebin, denying association with "Operation Wall Street":

"Operation Invade Wall Street is bullshit! It is a fake planted operation by law enforcement and cyber crime agencies in order to get you to undermine the Occupy Wall Street movement."

Anonymous further issued this statement [image]:

"Greetings fellow Anons: As brothers and sisters, we have to look out for one another in times like these.

We have taken notice to a planned attack which has been named #InvadeWallStreet, which is to be held out on October 10th.

We strongly advise against this action and everything it entails to.

Many of our brothers and sisters have gone down in the fight for using such tactics, like the wikileaks defendants who took down Visa, Paypal and Mastercard which led to mass arrests.

We do not want history to repeat itself and are sincerely worried.

Using such a tool as LOIC to get your message across would be deemed irresponsible and you would be signing your own ticket to jail.

Please change these tactics for this Op to spare our movement the loss and to spare OccupyWallStreet of the bad press.

Thank you and we hope we have made our point.

We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us."

Speculation runs high that this is a reverse-sting operation to both lure in crackers and to discredit OWS positions on non-violent and lawful protest.

[Interestingly, the SHFTplan site is a distributor of this "information", as well as the example below; as of this writing, no similar retraction to the BofA Bank Run video mentioned below is showing on the page, despite the communique direct from AnonOps denouncing Operation Invade Wall Street]

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That BofA - SWAT Team video...

Another example: a link to a video is being endlessly tweeted today -

SWAT Teams in St. Louis Protecting Bank of America;
Refusing Customer Withdrawal

This video is being passed around without the information that it was published in August 2011 and does not have a direct bearing on the actions urged by OWS during the past week to "withdraw your money from the banks" and to trigger a bank run as a form of economic protest for BofA recently announcing $5 "debit card fees" and similar to the "Run on the Bank" issued by D-Senate Majority Whip Senator Dick Durbin on the Senate floor a day before.

This video and story is from the Midwest Rising event on August 10, 2011. Many bloggers reported on this video and used it as part of their OWS coverage without stating the date nor the source. The You Tube account used to post this video is associated with the SHFT.plan website. A later retraction/apologetic post on the site states:

"It has come to our attention that this video was originally published in August of this year, thus is not a reflection of OccupyProtests currently taking place in New York and the rest of the U.S. We apologize to our readers for the mistake and inconvenience. While not exactly timely, the video nonetheless reflects what we believe will be the response by police departments the country over if bank runs were to become reality."

... but this information is left out of the tweets and subsequent retweets, which are numerous currents in today's tweetstream -

@OccupyPhilly SWAT Teams in St. Louis Protecting Bank of America; Refusing Customer Withdrawals.

- implying that this is currently happening. It is not. This is an old video.

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It's definitely related to the issues and concerns of OWS, but the use of it to imply that SWAT Teams are standing by at BofA locations right now because of something OWS has called for is alarmist and deceptive. It would have been more powerful as " an example of the kind of things banks have done and are prepared to do", ie real data instead of spun data [manipulative propaganda]. As it is, it was quickly debunked in the same sort of crowdsourcing seen with the other stories coming out of Occupy Wall Street.

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Another possibility exists: that this is weaponized disinformation broadcast from opposing forces, designed to attack and discredit the honesty of the OWS occupiers and supporters in the same way the suspicious "Radiohead is playing today at 4pm" was designed to do. It does have echoes of many of the "oppositional" tweets - the subtle twisting of position or implications of wildy-unrelated themes. This is the use and misuse of data as a weapon; social engineering.

It might have been an overly-enthusiastic sharing of "information" which illustrates some of the concerns of the OWS movement [bank/financial conduct] but the manner in which it was done, without clearly stating it was supportive material [like much of the information being dug up and disseminated through Twitter] and not a reaction to people's call for a "bank run" on BofA in solidarity protest with OWS casts suspicion and shadows on OWS and its supporters that Occupy Wall Street cannot afford, no matter how "well-meaning" or "supportive".

In the same way, graphic artist Scott Lickstein's print was appropriated without his permission and used to imply huge crowds at Liberty Square until the perpetrator was caught and outed, casting doubt on OWS until the whole story came out [it was not a sanctioned action by OWS]. One of Occupy Wall Street's greatest strengths and protections lies in radical transparency and its open-source model. Why? Because... twisting and lying about information is what the creeps do that we are all protesting... isn't it?

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The net allows for hundreds or thousands of people researching [debugging] and diseminating information faster than the disinformationalists can control the story [spin; munitions]. There's a lot of real-time fact-checking going on (which is good). Seeing the quick identification, debunking and clarification of this "information" in only a few hours is another demonstration both of why open-source is powerful [many fact-checkers/debuggers] and why it is open to abuse [the original tweeter; injection of mis- or disinformation].

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Data is not information

These are only two examples of the psychological warfare that has flooded the net via Twitter and blogs swirling around Occupy Wall Street. The ability to input immense amounts of data into the nets is countered by the ability to use that data for information or disinformational purposes. Data is only data [facts, figures, quotes, reports, video, audio, graphic, photos]. Information is not data; it is the processing and interpretation of data. In the example above, the data [video] has been interpreted [slanted; spun] in a way to distort the meaning of the video in support of a position. It lies by omission [the date] and by implication [connection to OWS].

RT @xxxxx: #TeaParty is upset with #WallStreet sending our jobs overseas...so is #OccupyWallStreet

#OccupyWallStreet is Racist. Where were they when Bush was president? They just hate the fact that a black man is president

Wall Street protest movement spreads across US, Canada, Europe:

I have some advice for the #occupywallstreet losers. Pull your accounts from $BAC oh wait, I'm sorry I forgot you are dirty hippies.

RT @xxxxxxx: #TeaParty people are afraid #WallStreet sold out our futures...so are the #OccupyWallStreet people.

This morning I was disgusted by MSM. CNN, Fox and MSNB: Bear riding a bike, a monkey and a puppy.

walk like an egyptian, fight like a libyan, camp like an american

In the dataset above, which is a random sampling of repeating/retweeting memes, there are only two actual pieces of information. See if you can find them.

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INFORMATION
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OccupyWallStreet.org
about

NYC General Assembly
current information

SUPPLIES NEEDED

OWS medical team is asking for supplies for makeshift medical kits:
milk of magnesia, bandanas and vinegar, Milk of Magnesia, Bandanas, finger and leg splints, ice packs/cold packs, rubber gloves, cpr masks & swim goggles rated to 10m, water bottles with spray tops and big (#10) ziplock baggies to make kits. And "tobacco! We all smoke; we shouldn't but we do. Please send tobacco!" And tarps, bug repellent and calamine lotion, space blankets, gauze. And water; lots of water. Warm coats and blankets. Toothbrushes and Tupperware.

Shipping address:

THE UPS STORE
118 A #205
NEW YORK, NY 10038

RE: Occupy Wall Street

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How Not To Get Arrested
some basic rules for being cool

Live GlobalRevolution stream from Liberty Plaza

First OFFICIAL Release from OCCUPY WALL STREET

Proposed List of Demands [official OccupyWallStreet]
A democratic poll

Huge List of Locations for #OccupyWallStreet Demonstrations
Actually, OccupyEverywhere

OccupyWallStreet's Flickr photostream

Wikipedia: Occupy Wall Street

List of places that will deliver food to Liberty Plaza

Occupy Wall Street's Arts & Culture Committee

Here's a theoretical tutorial about getting out of Zip-tie cuffs [youtube]
for entertainment purposes only
Here's how a magician would escape plastic cuffs [front] [youtube]
presented for entertainment purposes only

New York Patrol Guide Procedure Number 212-95 [Pepper Spray]

Pepper spray and tear gas - things to know about it

According to this NYCLU post, you have the right to stand or march on sidewalks without a permit.

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MEDIA
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Citing Police Trap, Protesters File Suit
Class-action lawsuit against the NYPD for the Bridge arrests

Occupy Wall Street Draws Donations [NY Daily News]

Make Revolution, Not Reform: A Warning to the 'Occupy' Movement [video]
A smart warning about co-option by philanthropists and about repeating the same ineffective cycles

Nobel-winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz and Jeff Madrick
speak to Occupy Wall Street occupiers [video]
Stiglitz and Madrick are very qualified to speak about economic inequalities

Los Angeles lawmakers cheer on OccupyLA protesters outside City Hall

Second Wave of Protests Unleashed: Targets the Federal Reserve [Veterans Today]

Occupy Wall Street Getting Expensive For the NYPD
Part of the story not being transmitted is that the NYPD was due for mass layoffs until the Occupy Wall Street protests began.

Op-Ed

Occupy Wall St.: This Is Not a Head Scratcher
Jared Bernstein: "Like, duh."

Anonymous accuses Chaoda of fraud
Anonymous analytics?

Why Occupy Wall Street Should Be Permanent
from Cryptome

From Occupy to Withdraw: The Simple Plan to Let Wall Street Be Its Own Undoing
A proposed plan of action

Obama Machine Prepares To Hijack ‘Occupy Wall Street’

We cannot track $2.3 trillion in [Pentagon] transactions" - Donald Rumsfeld [2009]
Money that would fund health, education and Social Security programs

The Recession’s ‘Silent Mental Health Epidemic’

Audio/Visual

Another Decomm'd Marine at Occupy Wall Street [photo]

More cops, more bull [photo]

The 1% does Windows [photo]

Occupy Wall Street Protester End the Fed - Best Rant! [video]

Andrew Breitbart Compares ‘Anonymous’ Video To ‘Nazi Propaganda’ [video]

Derric Jensen on Pacifism [video]

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Tweets
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No org. no celebrity, no politician , no one hijacks #ows The People #occupywallst #occupytheplanet #ourwallstreet #occupytucson OURS.

"The problem isn't big government, the problem is BOUGHT government."

experts are not the only ones who have a right to express themselves on questions affecting the organization of society. -Einstein

Anyone calling for/tolerating any form of violence in #OccupyWallStreet is not on the side of the people. Watch out for agent provacateurs.

Two brokers walking down the street. One says: "Look! It's my wife and mistress-together!" The other says: "Mine too!"

As John said, “One hero cannot do it. Each one of us have to be heroes.” And you are. Thank you. love, yoko

#OccupyWallStreet isn't about Right versus Left. It's about Right versus Wrong.

Yeah, like Amnesty Int"l is a liberal John Birch Society. MT @cnnAM: Talk Back: Is #OWS the dawn of a liberal Tea Party?

Those who think #occupywallstreet is a "hippie" thing, you don't have a clue. I'm part of it as a senior Vietnam vet.

My cause is more worthy of protest than your cause. The proof is that it is my cause. Please abandon your cause. [almost perfect summation of troll-tweet, except he forgot "you smell dirty hippie" but maybe not enough room :D

I can guarantee at least 250 million people in this great country has purchased food 2 eat at a dollar/discount type store. I have.

It's an Omen...... men men men men

We have cut taxes for the richest Americans for 10 years now. Are we better off for it as a nation?

The #occupiers are to free assembly what #Anonymous is to free speech.

#TeaParty wishes someone would fix that bridge...#OccupyWallStreet wants to fix it right now, today.

Glenn Beck says #OccupyWallStreet will lead to gas chambers, guillotines, and Mao. Labeling the guy as "crazy" would be an understatement.

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