The Twitter Files: Part 8 Pentagon’s Covert PsyOp Campaign for the US Military
Under Jack Dorsey the criminal ring leader Social Media giant Twitter was quietly aiding the Pentagon’s covert online PsyOp campaign
While assisting in undermining the integrity of our elections by invading our free will with lies
How Twitter Quietly Aided The Pentagon’s Covert Online Psyop • Lee Fang (@Ihfang)
Twitter Files Part 8: The platform ‘directly supported’ the US military’s influence operations.
Investigative journalist Lee Fang published the eighth issue of the Twitter Files on Tuesday, highlighting how the social media juggernaut “quietly supported the Pentagon’s covert online PsyOp campaign.”
“Despite promises to shut down covert government propaganda networks, Twitter documents show the social media giant directly supported US military influencing operations,” Fang wrote to open the lengthy thread detailing the company’s role an alleged online psychological operation describes opinion-forming in the Middle East and beyond.
Elon Musk has been vocal about being transparent when it comes to this Twitter’s past and present actions Curate content on the Platform, including censored content. The Twitter owner has recruited journalists to slowly release evidence of these actions in a series called “Twitter Files,” which continues to uncover once-secret communications.Billionaire industrialist Elon Musk took over Twitter in late October and immediately fired several top executives. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto, CARINA JOHANSEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images (photo illustration))
Fang announced that he was “given access to Twitter for a few days” but did not sign or agree to anything specific. He added that Twitter had “no control” over his reporting, but the searches were conducted by a Twitter lawyer, so what he saw could be limited.
The viral thread explained that Twitter “has claimed for years that they are making a concerted effort to expose” and “thwart” government-backed platform manipulation, including testifying to Congress, but the findings suggest that this is not the case case is.
“[B]Behind the scenes, Twitter gave authorization and special protection to the US military’s online psychological manipulation operations. Despite knowing that Pentagon propaganda accounts were using covert identities, Twitter hasn’t banned many for around 2 years or more. Some remain active,” Fang wrote.
Fang’s examples included a 2017 email from US Central Command that listed 52 Arabic-language accounts used to “amplify specific messages.” Twitter allegedly helped give the accounts additional visibility and stripped them of spam and abuse flags.
The accounts, which tweeted about “US military priorities in the Middle East,” were initially openly linked to the government, but the relationship was eventually hidden from users, according to Fang.
“CENTCOM then changed policies and deleted disclosures of ties to the Twitter accounts,” Fang wrote. “A Twitter official who spoke to me said he felt duped by the covert postponement. Still, many emails from 2020 show that senior Twitter executives were well aware of the DoD’s vast network of fake accounts and covert propaganda and did not suspend the accounts.”
TWITTER FILES PART 6 REVEAL THE FBI’S LINKS TO THE TECH GIANT: “AS IF IT WAS A SUBSIDIARY”
On Monday, the seventh edition of the “Twitter Files” addressed how the FBI and intelligence agencies “discredit factual information about Hunter Biden’s foreign operations.”
Independent writer Michael Shellenberger exposed what he called the FBI’s “lobby campaign” that eventually “worked” when Twitter censored Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop.
Journalist Matt Taibbi went viral with the first episode in early December with his “Twitter files,” which focused on Twitter’s internal discussions that led to it censoring Hunter Biden’s laptop story during the 2020 presidential election, with some officials Had trouble explaining how it had violated its “hacked file” material policy.
It was later revealed that the first batch of “Twitter files” were reviewed without Musk’s knowledge by Jim Baker, who previously served as the FBI’s General Counsel and was involved in the Russia investigation but worked for Twitter ahead of the 2020 election. Musk fired Baker shortly thereafter.
TWITTER FILES “SUPPLEMENTARY” SHOW EVEN TRUST AND SECURITY CHIEF NOT “COMFORTABLE” WITH FBI “CLEAR” ANSWERS
Fang continued to put Baker in the spotlight on the eighth episode of “Twitter Files.”
Fang also shared emails from other Twitter attorneys and executives, including speculation that the Pentagon wanted to retroactively classify its social media activity “to avoid embarrassment.”
“In several other emails from 2020, senior Twitter executives/lawyers discussed the covert network and even recirculated CENTCOM’s 2017 list and shared another list of 157 undisclosed Pentagon accounts, again mainly focused on military affairs in the Middle East,” Fang wrote.
“Many of these secret U.S. military propaganda accounts, while not discovered by Twitter until 2020 (but possibly earlier), continued to tweet this year, some not being suspended until May 2022 or later, according to records I have reviewed,” wrote catch.
Fang noted, “In August 2022, a Stanford Internet Observatory report exposed a covert US military propaganda network on Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and other apps using fake news portals and deeply faked images and memes against US foreign opponents,” including Russia , China and Iran.
He was able to confirm from CENTCOM’s 2017 email that Stanford correctly identified one.
“In later reports, Twitter was cast as an unbiased hero for ‘removing a network of fake user accounts representing pro-Western political positions.’ Media covering the story described Twitter as consistently applying its policies and proactive in suspending the DoD network,” Fang wrote. “The reality is much grimmer. Twitter has been actively supporting CENTCOM’s network since 2017 and as late as 2020 knew these accounts were covert/intended to manipulate discourse, in violation of Twitter’s policies and promises. They waited years for the lockdown. “
Fang wrote that “Twitter’s communications team remained in close contact with reporters throughout the process and worked to minimize Twitter’s role.”
“Behaviour with the US military’s covert network stands in stark contrast to how Twitter has boasted since 2016 about quickly identifying covert accounts linked to state-backed influence operations, including Thailand, Russia, Venezuela and others delete,” Fang wrote.
Fang capped off the thread with a link to an article he wrote for The Intercept that provides “more details” about Twitter’s relationship with “government-backed covert propaganda campaigns.”
In the article The Intercept, he wrote that Twitter “provided direct authorization and internal protections for the US military’s network of social media accounts and online personas, and whitelisted a number of accounts at government request.” and the Pentagon “has used this network, including US government-created news portals and memes, to shape opinion in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait and beyond.”
According to Fang, Twitter has been directly supporting the Pentagon for at least five years.
The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington on March 2, 2022. ((AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File))
The second episode of Twitter Files, previously published by Weiss, revealed Twitter’s “blacklist” of prominent conservatives, including Fox News anchor Dan Bongino, Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University, a longtime opponent of COVID groupthink during the pandemic, who has spoken out against lockdowns.
Internal memos also reveal that Twitter officials admit that popular account Libs of TikTok has never violated its policy on “hateful behavior,” despite allegedly being fined multiple times for doing so.
These revelations appear to contradict what former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told Congress in 2018, saying under oath that Twitter has not censored or banned conservatives.
CNN’S ‘TWITTER FILES’ COVERAGE OF HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY HAS CLEAR OMISSIONS
The third, fourth, and fifth episodes of the “Twitter Files” focused on former President Trump’s permanent suspension in connection with the January 2021 Capitol riots. Taibbi reported how Twitter was disseminating election-related tweets from various users in the run-up to the 2020 election were “flagged” as problematic by the FBI.
Part six of the “Twitter Files” highlights Twitter’s close ties to the FBI. Taibbi claimed law enforcement was acting like a “subsidiary” of the tech giant, unveiling notices showing the FBI, up to 80 agents, were systematically flagging Twitter users for tweets containing “possibly hurtful content” related to the election contained.
In response to these “Twitter files,” an FBI spokesman told Fox News Digital, “The FBI regularly works with private sector entities to obtain specific information regarding the subversive, undeclared, covert, or criminal activities of actors with malicious influence in the… provide abroad. Private sector companies make independent decisions about what action, if any, to take on their platforms and for their customers after being notified by the FBI.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Twitter Files Part 8: Platform ‘directly assisted’ U.S. military’s influence operations
‘Twitter docs show that the social media giant directly assisted the U.S. military’s influence operations,’ Lee Fang wrote
Twitter Files Part 8: Platform ‘directly assisted’ U.S. military’s influence operations
Investigative journalist Lee Fang released the eighth edition of the “Twitter Files” on Tuesday, putting a spotlight on how the social media juggernaut “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,” Fang wrote to kick off the lengthy thread detailing the company’s role in an alleged online psychological operation aimed at shaping opinion in the Middle East and beyond.
Elon Musk had been vocal about being transparent when it comes to Twitter’s past and present actions curating content on the platform, including censored content. The Twitter owner has enlisted journalists to slowly release evidence of these actions in a series dubbed the “Twitter Files” that continue to expose once-secret communications.
Fang disclosed he was “given access to Twitter for a few days” but didn’t sign or agree to anything specific. He added that Twitter “had no input” into his reporting, but searches were carried out by a Twitter attorney so what he saw could be limited.
The viral thread explained that Twitter “has claimed for years that they make concerted efforts to detect” and “thwart gov-backed platform manipulation,” including in testimony to Congress, but findings indicate that is not the case.
“[B]ehind the scenes, Twitter gave approval & special protection to the U.S. military’s online psychological influence ops. Despite knowledge that Pentagon propaganda accounts used covert identities, Twitter did not suspend many for around 2 years or more. Some remain active,” Fang wrote.
Fang’s examples included a 2017 email from U.S. Central Command listing 52 Arab-language accounts it used to “amplify certain messages.” Twitter allegedly helped give the accounts additional visibility and made them exempt from spam and abuse flags.
The accounts, which tweeted about “U.S. military priorities in the Middle East,” were initially openly affiliated with the government, but the relationship was eventually hidden from users, according to Fang.
“CENTCOM then shifted strategies & deleted disclosures of ties to the Twitter accounts,” Fang wrote. “One Twitter official who spoke to me said he feels deceived by the covert shift. Still, many emails from throughout 2020 show that high-level Twitter executives were well aware of DoD’s vast network of fake accounts & covert propaganda and did not suspend the accounts.”
On Monday, the seventh edition of “Twitter Files” delved into how the FBI and intelligence community “discredited factual information about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.”
Independent writer Michael Shellenberger revealed what he called an “influence campaign” by the FBI that eventually “worked” when Twitter censored Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop.
Journalist Matt Taibbi went viral with the first installment in early December with his “Twitter Files” focusing on Twitter’s internal discussions leading to it censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 presidential election, with some officials struggling to explain how it violated its “hacked materials” policies.
It was later revealed that the first batch of “Twitter Files” were vetted without Musk’s knowledge by Jim Baker, who previously served as the FBI’s general counsel and was involved in the Russia probe, but was working for Twitter ahead of the 2020 election, got involved. Musk fired Baker shortly thereafter.
Fang continued to put a spotlight on Baker in the eighth installment of “Twitter Files.”
Fang also shared emails from other Twitter lawyers and executives, including speculation that the Pentagon wanted to retroactively classify its social media activities “to avoid embarrassment.”
“In several other 2020 emails, high-level Twitter executives/lawyers discussed the covert network and even recirculated the 2017 list from CENTCOM and shared another list of 157 undisclosed Pentagon accounts, again mostly focused on Middle East military issues,” Fang wrote.
“Many of these secretive U.S. military propaganda accounts, despite detection by Twitter as late as 2020 (but potentially earlier) continued tweeting through this year, some not suspended until May 2022 or later, according to records I reviewed,” Fang wrote.
Fang noted, “In August 2022, a Stanford Internet Observatory report exposed a U.S. military covert propaganda network on Facebook, Telegram, Twitter & other apps using fake news portals and deep fake images and memes against U.S. foreign adversaries,” including Russia, China and Iran.
He was able to confirm that Stanford correctly identified one from CENTCOM’s 2017 email.
“In subsequent reporting, Twitter was cast as an unbiased hero for removing ‘a network of fake user accounts promoting pro-Western policy positions.’ Media covering the story described Twitter as evenly applying its policies & proactive in suspending the DoD network,” Fang wrote. “The reality is much more murky. Twitter actively assisted CENTCOM’s network going back to 2017 and as late as 2020 knew these accounts were covert/designed to deceive to manipulate the discourse, a violation of Twitter’s policies & promises. They waited years to suspend.”
Fang wrote that “Twitter’s comms team was closely in touch with reporters, working to minimize Twitter’s role” throughout the process.
“The conduct with the U.S. military’s covert network stands in stark contrast with how Twitter has boasted about rapidly identifying and taking down covert accounts tied to state-backed influence operations, including Thailand, Russia, Venezuela, and others since 2016,” Fang wrote.
Fang concluded the thread with a link to a piece he wrote for The Intercept that has “more detail” about Twitter’s relationship with “government-backed covert propaganda campaigns.”
In The Intercept article, he wrote that Twitter “provided direct approval and internal protection to the U.S. military’s network of social media accounts and online personas, whitelisting a batch of accounts at the request of the government” and the Pentagon “has used this network, which includes U.S. government-generated news portals and memes, in an effort to shape opinion in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, and beyond.”
Twitter has been directly assisting the Pentagon for at least five years, according to Fang.
he second installment of Twitter Files previously published by Weiss revealed Twitter’s “blacklisting” of prominent conservatives, including Fox News host Dan Bongino, Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, as well as Stanford University’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a longstanding opponent of COVID groupthink during the pandemic who expressed opposition to lockdowns.
Internal communications also reveal Twitter staffers admitting that the popular account Libs of TikTok never violated its “hateful conduct” policy despite being punished several times for allegedly doing so.
Those revelations appear to contradict what former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told Congress in 2018, saying under oath that Twitter did not censor or shadowban conservatives.
The third, fourth and fifth installments of the “Twitter Files” focused on the permanent suspension of former President Trump around the Capitol riot events in January 2021. Taibbi reported how Twitter circulated election-related tweets from various users leading up to the 2020 election that were “flagged” by the FBI as being problematic.
Part six of the “Twitter Files” put a spotlight on Twitter’s close ties with the FBI. Taibbi alleged the law enforcement agency was acting like a “subsidiary” of the tech giant revealing communications that showed the FBI, as many as 80 agents, systemically flagged Twitter users for tweets that included “possible violative content” pertaining to the election.
In response to that “Twitter Files,” a spokesperson for the FBI told Fox News Digital, “The FBI regularly engages with private sector entities to provide information specific to identified foreign malign influence actors’ subversive, undeclared, covert, or criminal activities. Private sector entities independently make decisions about what, if any, action they take on their platforms and for their customers after the FBI has notified them.”
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Twitter Files #8 sequel unmasks US military PsyOps accounts
The eighth release of the so-called Twitter Files, coordinated with new Twitter chief Elon Musk,
focuses on how the company gave protections to US military PsyOps accounts.
Reporter Lee Fang revealed in the most recent disclosure of the infamous Twitter Files that Twitter provided accounts associated with US military psychological operations with additional safeguards on the social media network.
“Twitter has claimed for years that they make concerted efforts to detect and thwart government-backed platform manipulation… But behind the scenes, Twitter gave approval and special protection to the US military’s online psychological influence ops,” Fang tweeted.
The eighth extension of the Twitter Files showed that a US Central Command representative gave a list of 52 Arabic-language accounts in 2017, asking for preferential service for six of the accounts and “whitelist” privileges for others.
According to Fang, Twitter authorized the whitelist request, giving accounts without the typical blue checkmark verified status, thereby exempting them from spam alerts and increasing the likelihood that they will appear on the network.
The exposure also revealed that several of the accounts remained operational for more than two years despite Twitter’s knowledge that Pentagon propaganda accounts employed hidden identities.
High-ranking Twitter employees discussed the covert network in 2020 and shared the 2017 list, as well as 157 additional secret Pentagon accounts, as per Fang.
Twitter Files #8 eviscerated that a cross-platform US military propaganda network that promoted anti-Russian and anti-Chinese narratives was exposed in August, citing a Stanford Internet Observatory research.
Twitter whitelisted one of the accounts that Stanford had discovered, the files noted.
What are they?
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, is the mastermind behind the so-called Twitter Files. He has stated that he wants to demonstrate “what really happened” about behind-the-scenes content moderation choices at the social media business before he acquired it in October.
Three journalists, Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and Michael Shellenberger, have been delving into internal documents and conversations to highlight the company’s decision-making process surrounding some high-profile actions, such as banning former President Donald Trump in January 2020. The Twitter Files have been released in bits and pieces throughout December.
‘LESSONS LEARNED’:
offers advice to Americans outraged by COVID-19 restrictions infringing on their lives. fxn.ws/3TsRB88
