# DHS Monitors Drudge, NYT, HuffPo, et al **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 12, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289 "2012-01-12T15:20:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/1 "2012-01-12T15:20:16Z")
Is this something to be concerned about? The recent headline at DrudgeReport is "‘HOMELAND SECURITY’ MONITORING DRUDGE ‘WILL RETAIN INFORMATION’ which links to the [Atlantic Wire](http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/01/homeland-security-monitoring-drudge-report-new-york-times/47300/) with a breakdown of who’s being monitored: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Blogs, The Drudge Report, The Huffington Post, The New, York Times’s Lede blog, Wired’s Threat Level, Wired’s Danger Room, ABC News’…and more. Do you think the DHS is doing this to keep us safe or for some nefarious political reasons? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/2 "2012-01-12T15:44:14Z")
Now you’ve done it. Add Straight Dope to the list. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/3 "2012-01-12T15:46:01Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > Do you think the DHS is doing this to keep us safe or for some nefarious political reasons? Nefarious political reasons; they’ve never cared about making us safe. Politics is what they were created for. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/4 "2012-01-12T16:12:28Z")
Government reads newspapers! What kind of Orwellian world do we live in? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/5 "2012-01-12T16:18:36Z")
Somebody got their bosses to sign off on them web-surfing all day under the guise of “monitoring.” 😃 There’s enough out there to be paranoid about without reaching for things like this. ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/6 "2012-01-12T16:19:39Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Government reads newspapers! What kind of Orwellian world do we live in? and Facebook, Twitter, etc. It’s sort of hard to say it’s just for news content when they’re culling social networks. ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/7 "2012-01-12T16:22:49Z")
A snippet from the article, that’s difficult to decipher: [snip] "Based on a privacy compliance review from last November recently obtained by Reuters, the purpose of the project is to “collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture.”[/snip] ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/8 "2012-01-12T16:29:39Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Somebody got their bosses to sign off on them web-surfing all day under the guise of “monitoring.” 😃 Exactly. No doubt, somewhere in the bawls of the government there are folks monitoring porn sites “for public safety” and traveling to Los Vegas to conduct interviews of suspicious characters. I know I feel so much safer. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/9 "2012-01-12T16:31:10Z")
Why _wouldn’t_ we want them to be on top of what’s going on in the real world? ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/10 "2012-01-12T16:36:41Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Why _wouldn’t_ we want them to be on top of what’s going on in the real world? I’m not against them scouring the news every day, they are supposed to do that. I’m uncomfortable with them grabbing people’s social networking info, comments, etc. Seems like a massive abuse of power around the corner. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/11 "2012-01-12T16:39:15Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > and Facebook, Twitter, etc. > > It’s sort of hard to say it’s just for news content when they’re culling social networks. As I read the article, they are looking at publicly available news and social networking sites. I guess when I look at a Facebook page, I am “social networking.” If the government does it, it is “culling.” Unless more comes out about this story, I’m inclined to say that I don’t see a problem with the government looking at public information, even if it is on teh Internets. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/12 "2012-01-12T16:59:07Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Exactly. No doubt, somewhere in the bawls of the government there are folks monitoring porn sites “for public safety” and traveling to Los Vegas to conduct interviews of suspicious characters. I know I feel so much safer. I can remember an eighteen month FBI operation on prostitution in New Orleans that arrested something like a half dozen hookers. I’ve been to New Orleans and could have turned up twice that many on my way to pick up a breakfast beignet. ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/13 "2012-01-12T17:22:50Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > As I read the article, they are looking at publicly available news and social networking sites. I guess when I look at a Facebook page, I am “social networking.” If the government does it, it is “culling.” That is correct. Unless of course DHS is sending out friend requests. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dhs-monitors-drudge-nyt-huffpo-et-al/609289/14 "2012-01-13T07:12:59Z")
“We’re from the government and we’re here to [del]help[/del] be your friend.”