Did the FBI Compile an 83-Webpage Manual to Web Slang?

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Even the FBI needs enable with internet lingo, as evidenced by an 83-page inner doc they produced in 2014 many thanks to a Flexibility of Information Act (FOIA) ask for. The document reentered the internet’s consciousness through latest reporting on it from Enter and The Verge.

The document, readily available on archive.org, has a very long listing of terms a person would normally experience on the world wide web and in text messages, ranging from LMAO (laughing my ass off) to IITYWTMWYKM (if I inform you what this usually means will you kiss me). 

The doc contains a “Twitter Shorthand” part that has 2,800 entries and states: 

With the advent of Twitter and other social media venues on the World-wide-web, the use of shorthand and acronyms has exploded. The DFs Intelligence Investigate Help Unit (IRSU) has place jointly an substantial – but considerably from exhaustive – checklist of shorthand and acronyms utilised in Twitter and other social media venues such as instant messages, Fb and MySpace,

This record has about 2,800 entries you should find beneficial in your get the job done or for holding up with your small children and/or grandchildren. We’ll keep on to update/expand this list. If you have some tips for additions, experience totally free to include a new entry by clicking on the “New” tab under.

Some other slang phrases that stand out are NIFOC (bare in entrance of pc), WOS (waste of room/wife more than shoulder), and H9 (truly loathe – H8+1). 

The FOIA ask for was filed by MuckRock, an organization that helps the public obtain knowledge from the governing administration. The Verge reported on this back in 2014 when MuckRock released all of its communications with the FBI.

This is a ask for below the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby ask for the following information:

A duplicate of all data or documentation out there to FBI agents or other FBI staff or contractors which provides details on how to interpret or fully grasp so-referred to as “leetspeak.” Leetspeak (or leet or 1337, etcetera.) is a obfuscated sort of interaction exactly where letters are replaced with quantities or symbols or unconventional spellings or abbreviations are utilised, or a mixture of these features. This interaction is common amongst hackers and may possibly be offered to pc crimes investigators or applied in education them to assist them read through or understand conversation among laptop hackers.

Make sure you include things like all sorts of these records, together with but not constrained to memos, manuals, PowerPoint displays, education resources, email messages, and many others.

The comprehensive document is right here for your perusal.

Resources:

Federal Bureau of Investigation. “FBI Guidebook to Internet Slang.” Online Archive, http://archive.org/aspects/FBIGuideToInternetSlang. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.

Khaw, Cassandra. “The FBI Is Hip to Your Web Slang.” The Verge, 18 June 2014, https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/18/5819892/fbi-web-slang-record. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.

“Leet Speak (FBI).” MuckRock, https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-the usa-10/leet-discuss-fbi-10154/. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.

Rauwerda, Annie. “The FBI’s 83-Webpage Guide to Web Slang Is an Complete Rollercoaster.” Enter, https://www.inputmag.com/lifestyle/fbi-information-to-world-wide-web-slang. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.

Roth, Emma. “Today I Acquired That the FBI Has an 83-Website page Guide to Internet Discuss.” The Verge, 18 Apr. 2022, https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/18/23030750/fbi-83-webpage-guideline-world wide web-talk. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.