Fox Mulder gets all up in your Second Life
by Brooke Pilley 
May 18th 2009 at 7:00PM
Filed under: News items, Second Life, Politics, Virtual worlds
Realizing the vast amounts of time honest to goodness citizens spend on social media sites and in virtual worlds, the FBI has decided to jump aboard the Web 2.0 train to aid in their never-ending search for terrorists, fugitives, missing children, and new potential recruits.The Federal Bureau of Investigation now has a presence on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, iPhone, and Second Life. They even have widgets you can embed almost anywhere to show your support. If staring at billboards plastered with America's most wanted and assorted recruitment ads is your idea of fun, you might check them out.
This isn't just a lame PR attempt, though it may seem that way at first glance. The FBI is truly interested in reaching out to individuals who may be able to help them with their mission, "To protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jack said on 7:14PM 5-18-2009
Yeah Lame indeed....
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Jay said on 8:47PM 5-18-2009
You forgot "... and to detain and torture foreign nationals with impunity"
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SignpostMarv Martin said on 6:11AM 5-19-2009
I wonder how they'd react to SL Residents banning the in-world agents from parcels and sims...
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Ari Blackthorne said on 10:53AM 5-19-2009
I'm amazed at the trnechant responses to this article.
The FBI provides a service and a needed one.
@Jay: damned staright.
@SignpostMarv: Meh.
I am amazed at the hatred all over the place in real life (which crosses over to Second Life and facebook and myspace and all the rest.)
Oh well.
C'est la vie I guess.
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Moe Greene said on 11:32AM 5-19-2009
Jay -- Thank goodness we have the FBI and CIA to do so much of the dirty work that keeps this country safe. Had we hazed a few terrorists in the early part of this decade Americans may not have been placed in the position of deciding whether to allow themselves to burn up or jump out of an 82nd floor window.
As for the benefits of the FBI being in SL, I don't see many; but for PR purposes, why not?
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Jay said on 4:23AM 5-21-2009
You see:
"Had we hazed a few terrorists in the early part of this decade..."
Your use of the word "Haze" shows how endemic this is in the USA, that you trivialise the torture of foreign nationals by comparing it to college initiation pranks is just wrong.
Heck, even your new president has come out to say "We are an evil nation"
Yep, although to be honest he still is trying to hide the fact of how bad you Yanks are. Just look at his maneuvering and double speak to hide the SBS photos.
How can you honestly be proud of your behaviour? How can you even consider yourselves a world leader?
The rest of the world, even your allies, are laughing at you.
Amanda said on 9:41PM 5-19-2009
Shouldn't Information on where to find this in SL be included?
This seems to be just a rewrite of the FBI press release including the photo from the FBI website.
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Madeleen said on 4:39PM 5-19-2009
They need slurls. You can't fight crime without the slurrrrrrls to the billboards.
Do they realize how big SL is?
And did you know that there are a lot of FBI roleplay groups out there in SL?
Wild! Lets face it, most of SL couldn't pass the entrance psych tests.
We are a freaky bunch and whole world knows it.
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Tateru Nino said on 4:55PM 5-19-2009
Speak for yourself! ;)
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Chak said on 7:40PM 5-19-2009
Sehr geil!
Endlich kann ich dem FBI Gesetzesverstösse melden! :D
Die Typen hier bei mir sind auch einfach zu doof um die Zeichen der Zeit zu sehen, und potentielle kriminelle Machenschaften, schon jetzt, im Cyberspace aufzudecken! XD
I will recruit! For me contry!! *salutes*
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