U.S. Global Engagement Center to Use “Blockchain-Enabled Content Authentication”
The GEC’s “Technology Series”
The U.S. State Department announced the Global Engagement Center’s (GEC) Technology Series “to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation.” According to the announcement, the Technology Series initiative will convene some of the country’s “best technologists, academics, and civil society advocacy groups” (emphasis added) on a regular basis to identify “technological solutions” and to encourage stronger public-private partnerships in the “fight against foreign propaganda and disinformation”.
These technologies may include, but are not limited to, bot network detection, blockchain-enabled content authentication, and counter-messaging automation.
It’s a little hard to figure out what the State Department means by the term “technology series”, but the press release said that participants in the initiative agreed to hold short counter foreign propaganda and disinformation technology demonstrations over the next six months and that “[t]hese technologies may include, but are not limited to, bot network detection, blockchain-enabled content authentication, and counter-messaging automation” (emphasis added).
Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . ., U.S. Const. amend. I
Using the Blockchain to Limit Free Speech?
The term “blockchain-enabled content authentication” sounds an awful lot like content producers, like PoliticalNewsReport.com, will have to have their content “authenticated”. Who will that authenticating authority be? Could it be those “civil society advocacy groups” mentioned earlier?
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . .” In other words it doesn’t matter who does the authenticating because authenticating places a limit on free speech and freedom of the press. And if it’s sanctioned by the government, then that “authenticating” violates the First Amendment and is, therefore, illegal.
These demonstrations will show the U.S. interagency how specific technology can be applied to stem the spread of false narratives and to authenticate emerging information. – Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Heather Nauert
A quote from Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Heather Nauert, who attended an event to kick off the series, telegraphs the government’s Orwellian intent. Under Secretary Nauert stated, “[t]hese demonstrations will show the U.S. interagency how specific technology can be applied to stem the spread of false narratives and to authenticate emerging information” (emphasis added).
The Global Engagement Center (GEC)
According to their website (links below), the Global Engagement Center (GEC) was established by Democratic President, and one-time constitutional law professor, Barack Obama in Executive Order 13721 in April of 2016. The GEC was subsequently codified into law by a Republican-majority congress in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which defined its mission as being to “lead, synchronize, and coordinate efforts of the Federal Government to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining United States national security interests.”
I feel safer already. Don’t you?
Resource Links:
- The Global Engagement Center’s Technology Series To Counter Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation [Press release], U.S. Department of State, May 2, 2018
- U.S. Constitution – First Amendment at FindLaw.com
- Global Engagement Center webpage at the State Department website
- Acting Under Secretary Heather Nauert image credit, State Department Photo/Public Domain
