On the EDge: Hijacking the presidential Twitter account

November 6, 2017 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — A rogue social media employee did what advisors, family members and party leaders have been unable to do for more than a year now, disconnecting the president from his link to the world, his Twitter account.

For 11 minutes last Thursday night the president was Twitterless.

Now, under normal circumstances, that would be good news.

We’ve seen some of the wild, accusatory, unfounded claims the president has made on Twitter and it is embarrassing. And, truthfully, how many of us wish we could permanently disconnect him from his account and the bluster of unhinged, unfounded, untrue posts placed there?

We have heard a lot from this guy about draining the swamp, but the incessant Twitter dispatches have done little of that, instead, muddying the waters even more.

The thing is, we have seen Twitter replace the traditional means of handing down statements and positions from the administration and that is not good.

In 140 characters or less, we have learned how the president feels about transgender people serving in the military, seen his false flag unfurl against pro football players trying to make a statement about police brutality and injustice, read repeated claims of guilt (Hillary Clinton) and innocence (himself), witnessed the scurrilous degradation of members of the House and Senate, been force-fed racist screeds about Mexicans and the propaganda of the “alt-right” and neo-Nazis and been exposed to the narcissistic ramblings of an egomaniac who believes only his usually uninformed opinion matters.

This administration has moved the bully pulpit from the White House briefing room to a social media platform that has emerged as our most instant communication tool.

I understand times have changed.

I have been a part of an industry that has seen the traditional avenues of news dissemination move from print to online, a necessary, vibrant and vital change that has rendered print ineffective and outdated before it lands on your doorstep each morning.

We want our news now.

We want it in short bits we can digest easily, without a lot of thought.

We want it on the go, we want it constant and we want to interact with it, whether through comments or sharing.

I get that.

I also, however, want that immediacy.

But, there is a danger in dictums being showered from our highest office instead of following the protocol of a system that was established to put in place the necessary checks and balances our government not only requires, but demands.

When the president tweeted about his position on transgender members of the armed services, military officials made a point of ignoring the policy change until it had been filed through proper channels.

While to some that may have seemed an act of insubordination, it was, in fact, a lesson in verification and protocol.

We have seen how easy it is to hack into our most sensitive information channels. The military leaders were correct in waiting for official policy to be handed down in a legal and binding manner.

From WikiLeaks to the Russian manipulation of Facebook and the internet to sway the last election by just enough votes to pull off the most improbable win in U.S. political history, we know that the devil that is social media can be used for less than honorable means.

It’s really not surprising anymore when we learn that hackers have cracked into the accounts of users innocently buying goods on Amazon or making payments online.

It happens, with all-too-much frequency.

We shake our heads and simply hope they didn’t get our information.

But, on a grander scheme, this intrusion, as humorous as it may have seemed at the time, is actually quite dangerous.

As one observer said last week, how can we be sure if, sometime in the future, we see a Tweet from the president claiming that he has authorized the launch of nuclear weapons against North Korea, Iraq or anybody else who has irritated him lately?

Is it real?

Is it credible?

Is it the work of a hacker?

That’s what’s on the line here.

When the president first took to the Twitterverse, I was skeptical. I thought he had hired some social media wizard to come up with outrageous, but attention-getting, posts to simply stir the pot and keep his name in front of the public.

I have, however, come to accept the fact that he is a Twitter addict.

He simply cannot put his phone away and leave the opinionating to those with educated, well-formed thoughts.

The evidence is there.

No matter how outlandish the Tweets may seem – from his demeaning nicknames for his opponents to straight-up lies – we pretty much know that these missives are coming from our Commander in Chief.

Yep, he’s the guy who, a year after the election, seems to still be on the campaign trail, aiming his barbs at “Crooked H” and “Crazy Bernie” in the undignified language of a street bully.

The thing is, while we wait for this bully to get his comeuppance, as they always do when somebody has had enough and kicks them high and hard on the backside, we are walking on egg shells because of this Twitter security breach.

The world is a precarious place these days and leaders who still have a connection with sanity are wary of every word uttered by the president, searching for the why and how of his diatribes and wondering what it means for their nation’s relationship with the U.S. So, we don’t need some hostile voice intercepting the president’s account and wreaking even more havoc.

I mean, how would we really tell the difference between a presidential Tweet and one written in by a malicious hacker?

And, in the act of hacking into the president’s account, what other information becomes compromised?

If they can get into his Twitter account, why can’t they get into his phone? His computer? His personal and official accounts?

Once you break one code, it is smaller work to break the others that lead to the bull’s eye.

So, while I can see the humor in a ticked off Twitter employee disconnecting the president from his Twitter account just before he walks off the job, I also see the danger in a lapse of security that could very well result in serious, perhaps apocalyptic, consequences.

No bad days!

Ed Kociela is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: edkociela.mx@gmail.com

Twitter: @STGnews, @EdKociela