ABC News recently posted an article “During the Olympics, The Feds Will Be Reading Your Tweets – And the Blotter… DHS Is Monitoring Social Media and Web Sites for Terror and Disaster Info”.

As the winter Olympics begin, the Department of Homeland Security has disclosed that it will be monitoring the comments and posts on websites and social media like Twitter for information on possible terror threats. Among the sites listed in a privacy impact statement filed Friday afternoon by DHS are the Drudge Report, the Huffington Post, Twitter, Google and this web site, the Blotter.

The National Operations Center of DHS will watch the web for information, according to the statement, to “provide situational awareness” in the event of natural disaster, an “act of terrorism, or other manmade disaster.”

“The Olympics are a potential target for such events,” said the statement. The statement did not list all web sites and social media that the NOC will monitor, but provided 31 examples, many of them, like the Blotter, sites that cover breaking news, security, or terror.

This really shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.  I’m sure this is normal DHS activity on a daily basis.  It’s only heightened during international events – such as the Olympics.  While some of the comments on ABC refer to big brother and lack of privacy, others think it’s absurd that a terrorist would actually post their message on Drudge or other social media sources.

What do you think?  Is social media monitoring just business as usual?

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