WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A National Security Agency document released by Edward Snowden shows the agency planned to discredit six Muslims by revealing their porn searches.
The six were identified as "exemplars" of how online intelligence gathering could be used to paint people suspected of being religious radicals as hypocrites, The Huffington Post reported.
"A previous SIGINT [signals intelligence] assessment report on radicalization indicated that radicalizers appear to be particularly vulnerable in the area of authority when their private and public behaviors are not consistent," the document said.
The NSA director is described as the "orginator" of the document, which was dated Oct. 3, 2012. The behavior described in the document included accessing online pornography and engaging in sexually explicit online chats with "inexperienced young girls."
Shawn Turner, an intelligence spokesman, defended the practice.
"Without discussing specific individuals, it should not be surprising that the U.S. government uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalize others to violence," he told The Huffington Post in an email Tuesday.
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the government clearly defines abuse "narrowly" while scooping up huge amounts of information about almost everyone.
Read More
- Snowden documents reveal years of U.S. spying on Netherlands
- Paper reveals NSA goal to gain 'mastery' of cyber-intelligence
- 3 Senate Dems propose more NSA surveillance disclosure
- Report: U.S., U.K. spy agencies collaborated to gather data on Britons
- Ex-Blair adviser says NSA leaks aren't very damaging
