About this video

• Video Title: THE INTERNET IS A PSYOP
• Channel: We're In Hell
• Speakers: (None explicitly named in transcript)
• Duration: 1:00:19

Overview

This video explores the historical origins and evolution of the internet, arguing that it has been deeply intertwined with military and intelligence agency operations from its inception. It traces the development of key technologies and concepts from ARPA's counterinsurgency research to the creation of ARPANET, the rise of Silicon Valley giants like Google, and modern surveillance programs, suggesting that the internet, rather than being a tool for liberation, has been a form of psychological operation and control.

Key takeaways

• Origins in Counterinsurgency: ARPA's early research, particularly Project Agile and Operation Igloo White, focused on understanding and influencing populations for military purposes, laying groundwork for surveillance and social science manipulation.
• Internet's Military Roots: The development of SAGE, ARPANET, and early networking concepts were funded and driven by military and defense needs, stemming from the Cold War and the desire for technological superiority.
• Silicon Valley's Ties to Defense: Major tech companies like Google have direct or indirect funding and collaborations with military and intelligence agencies (DARPA, CIA, NSA), influencing their development and data collection practices.
• Data as Control: Companies like Google leverage user data extensively, creating detailed psychological and demographic profiles, which, while offering some benefits, also enable unprecedented levels of surveillance.
• Surveillance as a Constant: From early military surveillance programs in Vietnam to modern NSA operations like PRISM, the internet has been a tool for monitoring populations, with companies often acting as unwilling or willing collaborators.

Here are the main points from the video:

• The internet's creation and evolution are deeply linked to military and intelligence operations. This is presented as a core argument throughout the video.
• Early U.S. military research, like ARPA's Project Agile, focused on psychological warfare and social science to understand and influence populations. This laid the groundwork for later information gathering and manipulation.
• Key internet infrastructure, such as ARPANET, was developed with significant defense funding and for military purposes. The need for robust communication networks during the Cold War was a major catalyst.
• Silicon Valley's growth and major tech companies have historical and ongoing ties to defense contractors and intelligence agencies. This is illustrated with examples like Google's DARPA funding and collaborations.
• The collection and analysis of vast amounts of user data are central to the internet's business models and its function as a surveillance tool. Companies like Google have turned user data into a primary resource for improvement and advertising.
• From its inception, the internet has been used for widespread surveillance, a practice that has only intensified over time. This is shown through historical examples like COINTELPRO and modern programs like PRISM.
• The narrative of the internet as a tool for freedom and connection often masks its origins and continued use for control and information gathering by state and corporate entities. The video challenges the perception of the internet as purely a civilian or liberating technology.

Here's a comprehensive list of the points made in the video:

• The speaker was stalked by someone convinced they worked for the CIA due to producing high-quality videos, highlighting the common accusation of being a "fed" in online politics.
• The internet now fosters a constant state of paranoia where users believe they are being manipulated from all sides by various actors (right-wing media, Russian psyops, leftist podcasters, etc.).
• Sometimes, the likelihood of witnessing an actual military psychological warfare campaign increases.
• Haley Luon, an "egirl influencer in the army," openly discusses her job involving psyops, using memes similar to other online personalities but with a military context.
• The UK's Online Safety Act (OSA) is presented as an example of increasing censorship and data stripping, requiring government IDs for platform access.
• Companies are happy to have user data on file, and regulators are cracking down on VPNs used to bypass age checks.
• The video is sponsored by Surfshark VPN, highlighting its use for accessing region-locked content and bypassing surveillance.
• The internet's current state of surveillance and control is not new but has been a core aspect of its design from inception.
• The video's content is heavily based on the book "Surveillance Valley" by Yasha Levine.
• ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) was founded in 1958 in response to Sputnik to close the technology gap with the Soviets.
• After NASA took over the space program, ARPA shifted its focus to counterinsurgency warfare, particularly in response to guerrilla insurgents.
• Counterinsurgency requires a deep understanding of the target population's culture and conditions, leading ARPA to fund social science research.
• Project Agile, launched by ARPA, combined computer surveillance with social science to study people in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Laos).
• Operation Igloo White involved dropping listening and urine sensors along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which proved largely ineffective as the Vietnamese adapted.
• ARPA's "Project Agile" extended surveillance to large parts of Vietnam and Thailand, aiming to understand why the local population supported communist movements.
• The Rand Corporation was hired for "social experiments" in Vietnam, including prolonged interrogations and the "strategic hamlet initiative" (kidnapping villagers).
• An American Institute for Research (AIR) study in Thailand involved assassinating leaders, relocating villages, and inducing famine as pacification techniques.
• Charles Murray, author of "The Bell Curve," worked for AIR in Thailand during this period and stated he learned much about social programs in the US from his time there.
• Project Agile was seen as an expensive boondoggle, with its director, William Gadell, eventually being jailed for embezzlement.
• An AIR report suggested that methods developed for counterinsurgency in Thailand could be applied to anti-war and civil rights activists in the U.S.
• SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), an early large-scale computer system for missile defense, was an expensive and largely obsolete project but spurred advancements in computing.
• SAGE's development contributed to the capabilities that led to the modern computing industry and the internet.
• Joseph Carl Robinet Licklider ("Lick") was a visionary who foresaw "Man-Computer Symbiosis" and the "great intergalactic network."
• Lick joined ARPA and funded researchers who developed key technologies like hypertext, video conferencing, and the computer mouse.
• He funded a project at UCLA and UC Berkeley that developed an early way of networking computers, a precursor to ARPANET.
• Lick claimed to have stayed out of ARPA's "cloak and dagger" counterinsurgency work, though his involvement in computer-related projects funded by ARPA was extensive.
• The Cambridge Project, a collaboration between Harvard, MIT, and ARPA, aimed to create a data library accessible via Project MAC for social science research, resembling Project Camelot's goal of predicting social movements.
• The Cambridge Project faced protests due to its military funding and potential for surveillance, with Lick himself involved in its proposal.
• Pool, a key figure in the Cambridge Project, had a history of working on propaganda and psyops, including for his company Simu Maddox in Vietnam.
• The Cambridge Project collected data on public opinion, political movements, youth movements, and communist activities globally.
• ARPANET was created by Lawrence Roberts at ARPA, using Interface Messaging Processors (IMPs) to connect incompatible computers.
• Initial public awareness of ARPANET was through critical investigative reporting on NBC, highlighting its use for government spying.
• COINTELPRO, a program run by the FBI, used surveillance and infiltration against domestic activist groups, and by 1970, it began using computers to manage its extensive files on legal political activism.
• William P. Yarborough, the architect of COINTELPRO, believed left-wing movements were Soviet-backed insurgency campaigns.
• COINTELPRO agents infiltrated organizations, tapped phones (including a U.S. Senator's), bugged events, and even spied on a church-run ski club.
• Some COINTELPRO agents posed as journalists to film and produce "fake news reports" for military generals.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee investigated military surveillance, with officials like David Cook falsely claiming ARPANET was not used for surveillance and was unclassified.
• ARPANET was eventually absorbed into the Defense Communications Agency, becoming military infrastructure.
• Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, initially focused on counterculture and self-sufficiency but later became a bridge between the hippie movement and the tech industry.
• Brand's early writings expressed fears of communism and a desire for "individualism and personal liberty," contrasting with his later embrace of technology.
• Brand was an unwitting test subject for MK Ultra experiments involving LSD.
• Brand's visit to a DARPA-funded AI lab at Stanford in 1972 shifted his focus to cybernetics and technology, promoting computers as tools for liberation, similar to LSD.
• He co-founded the Whole Earth Electronic Link (WELL), an early online message board, connecting counterculture and tech communities.
• Google's origins trace back to Larry Page and Sergey Brin's PhD thesis, funded by a DARPA project (Digital Library Initiative).
• Google's initial search engine name was "Back Rub," and its PageRank algorithm was inspired by academic citation systems.
• Google realized the value of user data footprints and began using them to improve the site and sell to advertisers.
• Sergey Brin had a fascination with data mining, even starting a club for it at Stanford.
• Google's pursuit of deep user knowledge raised privacy concerns, leading to the removal of a live search feed display from their lobby by Larry Page.
• The AOL search query leak in 2006 revealed that "anonymized" data was easily de-anonymizable, exposing user privacy.
• Google's Gmail service, offering large free storage, involved reading and parsing all user emails, attachments, and contact information to build demographic and psychological profiles.
• Legislation proposed in California to require explicit consent for email data collection threatened Google's business model.
• Google executives, including Sergey Brin, lobbied against privacy legislation, arguing that data collection wasn't violating privacy if done secretly.
• Al Gore was brought in to help Google lobby Senator Liz Figueroa, ultimately leading to the bill's failure.
• Keyhole Inc., founded by John Hank, developed a 3D engine for mapping the world using satellite imagery, inspired by Neal Stephenson's novel "Snow Crash."
• Keyhole received funding from In-Q-Tel (the CIA's venture capital firm), Sony, and Nvidia.
• The CIA and NGA used Keyhole technology for military operations like Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Google acquired Keyhole in 2004, turning it into Google Earth, and kept Hank, who later created Pokémon Go via Niantic.
• Google maintained CIA contacts through Keyhole and began engaging in defense contracts, including building a search engine for the NSA and running Intellipedia for intelligence agencies.
• Google launched its own spy satellite (GOESAT-1) in partnership with the NGA.
• Google bought Boston Dynamics (initially DARPA-seeded) in 2013, later selling it in 2017.
• Despite these activities, Google maintained the motto "Don't be evil."
• The Snowden leaks in 2013 revealed massive government surveillance programs like PRISM, which involved on-demand access to data centers of major tech companies.
• PRISM required active help from companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple, contradicting their claims of being unaware or unwilling participants.
• The video concludes by suggesting that Edward Snowden withheld information about the extent of company complicity, hinting at a follow-up video to explore the reasons and underlying ideologies connecting these disparate elements.