Facebook helps US intelligence agencies spy on Americans, says Julian Assange

Facebook complacently provides US government with a way to spy on American people said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who called the social networking website "the most appalling spying machine ever invented."

Social networking media like Facebook has all built-in methods for U.S. intelligence personnel to snoop on users of the site, Assange claims. Users' information, including names, locations, relationships, friends, and communications are all there for the government to see.

"It's not a matter of serving a subpoena, they have an interface they have developed for U.S. Intelligence to use," Assange told Russia Today's Laura Emmett. "Now, is it the case that Facebook is run by U.S. Intelligence? No, it's not like that. It's simply that U.S. Intelligence is able to bring to bear legal and political pressure to them."

It is not new that Facebook is used as a spying tool. Personnel of the Justice Department has already been trained to use social networks to gather evidence.

But what Assange is talking about is quite different, because what the DOJ has trained its personnel relates to legal actions such as a subpoena or an undercover cop. What he is saying is that the government is getting free reign to spy as it wants without going through the usual legal channels.

"Everyone should understand that when they add their friends to Facebook, they are doing free work for United States intelligence agencies," Assange said.