“The Department of Homeland Security posted a contract request this week for ‘Media Monitoring Services,’ which will compile a database of hundreds of thousands of journalists, bloggers and ‘media influencers’ for the federal government,” CBS News reported Friday night.
“The work request from DHS seeks a firm that has the ability to monitor up to 290,000 global news sources … track media coverage in up to 100 languages and … ‘track online, print, broadcast, cable, radio, trade and industry publications, local sources, national/international outlets, traditional news sources, and social media,'” CBS News said.
DHS defended its actions and denigrated the outcry that followed on social media: “DHS spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton tweeted that ‘despite what some reporters may suggest,’ this is ‘standard.’ ‘Any suggestion otherwise is fit for tin foil hat wearing, black helicopter conspiracy theorists,’ Houlton wrote.” Read story here.
Photo: DHS facility for processing detainees