BuzzBite: Spam Goes to War

Spam Goes to War

British intelligence is using text-messaging spam as part of a PsyOps campaign against the Taliban. When intelligence officers discover a Taliban fighter's cell phone number, they bombard the phone with presumably demoralizing messages, such as "We know who you are, give up." Text messages also are used to spread disinformation by purporting to come from other Taliban fighters.

But is this the best strategy? Spam tends to annoy and enrage recipients--not the emotions you want to evoke in people armed with rocket-propelled grenades. Instead, why not switch the Taliban to Cingular, which Consumer Reports recently cited for its poor service. Now that's demoralizing. --Andrew Conry-Murray, [email protected]