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US conducted mass spying campaign against leftwing and anti-ICE protesters

theguardian.com

21–30 of 126 posts

Re: US conducted mass spying campaign against leftwing and anti-ICE protesters

#21

Not really a new phenomenon. Actually one of these stories I found super amusing, apparently back in the day the Australian government got it into their head that all they really needed to break up the communist Indonesian government under Sukarno was a cunningly deployed pamphlet pointing out the contradictions in their philosophy. So they made the pamphlet, had agents distribute it at a communism convention, and uh…

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Re: US conducted mass spying campaign against leftwing and anti-ICE protesters

#22

What measures can protesters take against this? With agents actively infiltrating groups, it seems impossible to prevent this level of spying.

Vet /screen everyone. Cross check personal references, have an onboarding period before introducing new members to anything sensitive, do background checks if you’re concerned about it. There are already experienced community leaders and activists in your network; ask them how they establish trust. Teach people to think more critically about how and why they trust information and people. Make vetting part of recruitment and onboarding processes, and make recruitment work a self sustaining perpetual process with a team of people to support it. After you establish trust, use it. Ask around for feedback about new members.

Accept that you aren't going to always outsmart infiltrators and guard your information silos accordingly. Have processes for auditing threats, removing members. Avoid creating large group chats or exposing names/ contacts without consent. Keep working groups small, and don’t include people who aren’t actively participating. Use encryption, use pseudonyms. Use the basic tools available (Signal, GrapheneOS, Tails, Tor, etc). Don’t retain things like chat history or files you don't need. Give people basic training on social engineering techniques, cyber security (or honestly just how to use a computer 101), operational security, and how to recruit.

Ultimately, retain a good legal defense. You probably aren't doing anything illegal anyway, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a good lawyer and a plan… legal ground is shifting, and you will never have more resources than a motivated agency task force. Get a dash camera, and non-evil doorbell camera. Have a group of friends who will check in on you regularly. If you are discussing illegal shit, don’t do it around people or devices you don’t completely trust. Retain plausible deniability.

Re: US conducted mass spying campaign against leftwing and anti-ICE protesters

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See? This comment is precisely what building a state around voters who care more about aesthetics than semantics looks like.

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Re: US conducted mass spying campaign against leftwing and anti-ICE protesters

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See? This comment is precisely what building a state around voters who care more about aesthetics than semantics looks like.

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Cringe is too powerful of an anti-motivator.

Reminds me of when people wouldn’t listen to others because they had tattoos.

Re: US conducted mass spying campaign against leftwing and anti-ICE protesters

#26
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine being such a sucker that you think it's remotely justified.

The War Department even released a film about it in the 40s titled "Don't be a Sucker".

https://youtu.be/iB663aZJBjo

Re: US conducted mass spying campaign against leftwing and anti-ICE protesters

#27
post #21

Not really a new phenomenon. Actually one of these stories I found super amusing, apparently back in the day the Australian government got it into their head that all they really needed to break up the communist Indonesian government under Sukarno was a cunningly deployed pamphlet pointing out the contradictions in their philosophy. So they made the pamphlet, had agents distribute it at a communism convention, and uh…

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Imagine using the term "commies" in 2026 and expecting to be taken seriously.
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