The RCMP awarded a new social media monitoring contract Sept. 2 to a U.S. company that uses artificial intelligence to track what’s said on the web. Virginia-based Babel Street says its software can instantly translate between 200 languages and filter social media content by geographic areas and by sentiments expressed. Using artificial intelligence, it also analyzes relationships between content and senders, according to the company.

The software is used by several U.S. intelligence and enforcement agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

“Given the track record of Canadian law enforcement using social media surveillance to target civil rights movements and Indigenous and racial justice activists, the RCMP should not be further expanding these kinds of capabilities without wide public consultation and an independent inquiry into this technology’s impact on human rights and historically marginalized groups, such as Black and Indigenous communities,” Khoo told The Tyee in an email.

The surveillance could have a disproportionate chilling effect on marginalized groups, which turns expressive public forums into zones of restrictive speech, Khoo added.

Source: RCMP Hires US Artificial Intelligence Firm to Spy on Web Users | The Tyee