New documents obtained by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and leaked to journalist Glenn Greenwald and the Huffington Post show that the spy agency made plans to use the online activities, including visits to pornographic sites and other habits, of so-called Muslim “radicalizers” in order to discredit their standing.

“The NSA’s operation is eerily similar to the FBI’s operations under J. Edgar Hoover in the 1960s where the bureau used wiretapping to discover vulnerabilities, such as sexual activity, to ‘neutralize’ their targets.” –James Bamford, journalist

According to the reporting:

And Greenwald subsequently made note:

Though both current and former NSA officials said such a program would make sense in order to thwart terrorist activity, others told the HuffPo that the secret program is just another example of just how much the agency is collecting and what they’re able to do with the data they collect.

As the ACLU’s Ben Wizner tweeted:

“It’s important to remember that the NSA’s surveillance activities are anything but narrowly focused — the agency is collecting massive amounts of sensitive information about virtually everyone,” Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director at the ACLUE, told the HuffPo, warning that abuses of a program like this were easy to see.

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“Wherever you are, the NSA’s databases store information about your political views, your medical history, your intimate relationships and your activities online,” he said. “The NSA says this personal information won’t be abused, but these documents show that the NSA probably defines ‘abuse’ very narrowly.”

Though all documented targets of this program appeared to be outside the United States, at least one was indicated to be a U.S. national. And the idea that such programs will only be used to target suspected terrorists runs into the problematic history of government surveillance on U.S. dissidents, political activists, and labor organizers.

As the Huffington Posts explains:

As ACLU’s Jaffer commented, “The NSA has used its power [to discredit domestic political opponents] in the past and it would be naïve to think it couldn’t use its power that way in the future,” he said.

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