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Harper government monitoring online chats about politics - News1130
OTTAWA (NEWS1130) - The Harper government has been monitoring political messages online, and even correcting what it considers misinformation. One local expert says the government is taking things too far.

Under the pilot program the Harper government paid a media company $75,000 to monitor and respond to online postings about the east coast seal hunt.

UBC Computer Science professor and President of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, Richard Rosenberg, says it seems unnecessary for the government to be going this far. "The government has a lot of power, that it feels the need to monitor public bulletin boards, or places where people express views and then to respond to that, seems to me going beyond a reasonable action the government should be taking."

Rosenberg says knowing that the government is monitoring certain topics online could result in people being more careful with their identities when they're posting about political issues on the internet.

He says it's the first time he's heard of this happening in Canada.

maybe we have government hired people lurking on RS :suspicious:

the seal hunt is a pretty important industry.

i'm sure there's gov't employees on RS while at work...just not hired to do so...

The government has no place responding to posts on forums, any response from the government on an issue should be done through official channels, not a username.

It's hardly surprising that the Harper government would do this however, it's a mirroring of well established U.S. strategies.

someone say seal hunt?


fucking paranoid gov't programs.....

I have no problems with this as long as the hired "agents" are speaking the truth and not manipulating the situation. I could care less if they identified themselves or not, as long as they were speaking the truth.

There is nothing wrong with getting the correct information out there.
I mean after the whole HST bullshit, I welcome the govt. advocating the truth.

Times are changing and it seems far more economical/efficient to start getting information out there in forums.

And I think because they hired an agency, they don't have to identify themselves as a government body because they are simply a group of people posting information online. It isn't an official government response. I agree, this is a little sneaky, but isn't a BIG deal imo.


TLDR; I'm fine with it as long as the information posted isn't manipulative.

No one cares about the seal hunt itself. Everyone cares that it is the only thing in a desolate part of the country to do that they can earn money.

I've got to say that I'm starting to get disappointed with the federal conservatives. I really hoped that they would focus on more fiscal conservative monetary policy for which I voted for, but much like the republicans in the states, they seem to be more about paranoia and manipulation of the facts to fit their agenda.

Well, now I know.

Honestly, still better than the liberals or NDP. A good press can keep them in line. Can't do much about the NDP handing large swaths of cash over to any poor person looking for a handout.