Twitter Files EXPOSE Pentagon Psy Op | Counter Points

Introduction

The host introduces the show and welcomes Lee Fang from The Intercept to discuss his recent reporting on the Pentagon's psychological influence operations on social media.

Lee Fang's Reporting

• Lee Fang discusses his recent reporting on the Pentagon's psychological influence operations on social media.

• The Pentagon creates news portals, memes, and fake personalities throughout the Middle East and all over the world to shape public opinion around U.S adversaries.

• Twitter promised to crack down on state-backed influence operations but has worked hand in glove with the US military giving them special privileges for their fake Twitter accounts.

• Twitter is well aware of what was going on and did not shut these accounts down for many years. Some of them were suspended earlier this year but this has gone on for three four or five years.

Special Privileges Given to US Military by Twitter

• The US military had concierge service from Twitter, which gave them whitelist privileges that essentially gives a verification blue check privileges without the blue check so you don't see the blue check on the account it doesn't say verified but has all the same power.

• Someone at centcom U.S Central Command emails a list of centcom controlled Twitter accounts in Yemen and Syria or purportedly really they're in Florida but they say that they're in these places and asks for whitelist privileges.

• Most of these accounts in this particular list there were several lists of Pentagon accounts that were given special privileges.

Centcom's Social Media Campaign

The transcript discusses the social media campaign conducted by Centcom, which controlled an account based in Florida. The account was initially unbiased but over time, it changed to Euphrates Pulse and became focused on shaping public opinion in Iraq and Syria.

Shifting Public Opinion

• The campaign was mostly focused on shifting public opinion in the regions where they were targeted.

• However, information released with a targeted audience or demographic can trickle into other markets and come back to influence the US.

• American outlets often referenced these Twitter accounts when they needed information regarding drone strikes in Yemen or Syria because they were on the scene.

Classification of Social Media Activities

• An email from Joel Roth, former head of trust and safety at Twitter, reveals that DOD had a strong desire to work with them to remove all inauthentic activity like bot networks.

• Stacia Cardeal, an attorney at Twitter, suggests that the Pentagon may want to retroactively classify its social media activities "to obfuscate their activity in this space" and avoid embarrassment.

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Investigative Journalism and Corporate Transparency

In this section, the host discusses investigative journalism with Lee Fong. They talk about corporate transparency and how it can be improved.

Lee Fong's Reporting

• Lee Fong has reported on U.S special interests and corporations running their own version of things.

• He is critical of Musk's pivot lately but loves the idea of him opening up corporate records to journalists.

• Lee Fong is working on a few stories and hopes to get some public interest information that can help enlighten the debate.

Other Journalists Working on Similar Issues

• Barry Weiss, Michael Schellenberger, and Mattel UB are also working on similar issues.

• The insights into the process are really helpful because what we're seeing from the public perspective are these fascinating drops that are just drip dripping out over several weeks.

Public Interest Information

• Lee Fong hopes to get some public interest information that can help enlighten the debate.

• He started a sub-stack where he'll be sending out additional reporting and background.

Upgrading Coverage for 2024 Election

In this section, the hosts discuss ways they can upgrade their coverage for the 2024 election.

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