The so-called ‘Twitter Files’, which have been released in installments, show the internal communications of Twitter employees as they were deciding which Twitter accounts to censor and amplify, including the US President and news items such as the Hunter Biden laptop story.
The files have confirmed some of conservative’s worst fears about issues such as shadowbanning, the justification behind banning former President Donald Trump, and how the company basically made up rules as they went to justify suppressing the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop.
The latest installment goes beyond what even Twitter’s most significant detractors believed, indicating that the Department of Defense and Twitter employees coordinated to ‘whitelist’ accounts that were ran by the DoD for the purpose of psychological operations.
Whitelisting an account amplifies its reach without giving it an official blue checkmark.
The report indicates that Twitter ‘whitelisted’ various accounts ran by the Pentagon for the purpose of foreign psychological operations in the Middle East and Russia.
In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Twitter promised to crackdown on government accounts that spread propaganda, but actively worked with the Pentagon to amplify its own propaganda accounts.
The Epoch Times Reports–
1. TWITTER FILES PART 8
*How Twitter Quietly Aided the Pentagon’s Covert Online PsyOp Campaign*
Despite promises to shut down covert state-run propaganda networks, Twitter docs show that the social media giant directly assisted the U.S. military’s influence operations.
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) December 20, 2022
Journalist Lee Fang released the latest installment of the “Twitter Files” on Tuesday, showing how the social media platform “quietly aided” U.S. intelligence officials’ online campaigns.
In a lengthy thread that was reposted by Twitter owner Elon Musk, Fang wrote that “despite promises to shut down covert state-run propaganda networks, Twitter docs show that the social media giant directly assisted the U.S. military’s influence operations.”
“Twitter has claimed for years that they make concerted efforts to detect & thwart gov-backed platform manipulation. Here is Twitter testifying to Congress about its pledge to rapidly identify and shut down all state-backed covert information operations & deceptive propaganda,” the thread continued.
However, according to screenshots of messages from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to Twitter, the social media platform gave approval and protection to U.S. military psychological influence operations targeting several Middle Eastern countries. That went on for about two years or more, and some accounts remain active, he reported.
