Secret Service Wants Software That Detects Sarcasm On Social Media

weaselzipers;

Secret Service Wants Software That Detects Sarcasm On Social Media

Weasel Zipper commentators will keep the Secret Service gainfully employed.

Via Washington Post

The agency wants to buy software that, among other things, has the ability to “detect sarcasm” and language that may mean something different than it appears on first glance.

Government agencies and corporations have long used social media to try to influence the public and get their messages out, while law enforcement agencies increasingly monitor such sites for signs of trouble.

But getting a computer to detect sarcasm and its linguistic complexities can be difficult — and some experts worry at the prospect of attempts to parse speech by a government agency that has the power to arrest people for posting alleged threats online.

“It does appear that it’s going to be a pretty broad monitoring program. It will likely sweep in some First Amendment protected expression,” said Ginger McCall, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). “It is troubling, because it really stifles people’s ability to freely express themselves, and it has a tendency to quell dissent, to make people think twice before they express themselves online.”

The Secret Service request for the software, first reported bynextgov.com, was posted Monday. The agency is accepting proposals until next Monday.

The work order asks for a long list of specific tools, including the ability to identify influential figures on social media, analyze data streams in real time, access old Twitter data and use heat maps. (It also wants the software to be compatible with the five-year-old Internet Explorer 8 browser — a sign of the government’s outdated technology.)

Thank You WashPo, WZ, and Dapandico. 


Sarcasm huh? And they need new Computer Software to find it?

One would think that with the colossal hash this Administration has made of virtually everything it's touched they'd be hard pressed Not to find it.

pic cred to The Cube.