NSA monitored radicals’ porn habits

The National Security Agency has collected the sexually explicit online activity of jihadist “radicalizers” in a proposed effort to undermine their message and credibility, according to The Huffington Post. 

The news outlet obtained secret documents that highlight six cases in which the agency gathered the explicit information.

{mosads}A portion of the document notes that certain behaviors, if exposed, could call into question “a radicalizer’s devotion to the jihadist cause” and could lead to a loss of credibility and authority. 

Among the list of potential vulnerabilities is: “Viewing sexually explicit material online or using sexually explicit persuasive language when communicating with young girls.”

A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it uses all lawful tools at its disposal. 

Other credibility issues are less salacious and include using donations for personal expenses, charging high speaking fees and using questionable sources in speeches. 

Two of the six people used as examples in the document were listed with vulnerabilities that included “promiscuity.”

“Issues of trust and reputation are important when considering the validity and appeal of the message. It stands to reason that exploiting vulnerabilities of character, credibility, or both, of the radicalizer and his message could be enhanced by the vehicles he uses to disseminate his message to the susceptible pool of people and where he is vulnerable in terms of access,” reads a portion of the document. 

The document dated in 2012 originated with the NSA director and was passed along to the Justice Department as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the report. 

The six individuals included in the report are all located outside the United States, yet one of them is defined as a U.S. person. The Huffington Post withheld their names. 

Some of the information was gathered and authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. According to the report, none of the six had been accused of aiding in a terror plot. 

Shawn Turner, a spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence, said it should be no surprise that the government “uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalize others to violence,” according to The Huffington Post. But he would not talk about specific individuals. 

The documents were passed along by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has leaked a series of classified reports that the administration argues has endangered national security.