1. 🧵Google & Meta function as extensions of the US Intelligence Community. With Jacqueline Lopour, Google's Head of Trust & Safety, and Aaron Berman, Meta's Head of Elections Content/Misinformation Policy, both being career CIA officers, it underscores the CIA's substantial control over online censorship.
Why is this CIA-Big Tech revolving door, where career CIA officers wield power to censor & decide what misinformation is, purposefully suppressed in the broader conversation about censorship?
Why are career CIA officers like Jacqueline Lopour & Nick Rossmann, who both have a history of spreading misinformation & promoting the RussiaGate conspiracy theory, now in senior roles in Trust & Safety at Google, deciding what is misinformation & overseeing content moderation?
The cumulative number of former Intelligence Community personnel hired by Meta & Google since 2018 is staggering. Before 2018, there were only a handful. Here are the combined hires by both companies:
CIA-36
FBI-68
NSA-44
DHS/CISA-68
State Dept-86
DOD-121
2. Why would Google specifically choose these six senior executives to attend an @ISF_OSAC event in DC?
Everyone in this picture, alongside former CIA Director Robert Gates, is a current senior executive at Google & a former career CIA officer, except for the attorney from Perkins Coie (2nd from the left).
securityfdn.org/events-gallery…
3. Jacqueline Lopour spent 10 years at the CIA before joining Google in 2017. She is currently Head of Trust & Safety, where she not only determines what constitutes misinformation but also wields considerable power in content moderation on Search & YouTube.
In this interview, Lopour is promoting the RussiaGate conspiracy theory. I wonder if she believes her own propaganda.
4. Jacqueline Lopour, a career CIA officer, played a significant role in developing various intelligence programs at Google & YouTube:
*Manages intel operations for violent extremism, misinformation, hate speech, etc.
*Led development of intelligence programs for global election analysis.
*Developed the “YouTube Intelligence Desk.”
*Developed Google’s first machine-learning threat detection & analysis program.
*Provided daily COVID-19 briefings to senior leadership at Google & YouTube CEO
LinkedIn - archive.ph/IgF1w
5. In 2015, Lopour authored a rather bizarre article titled: “The best reason for Iran deal? The West will learn where to drop bombs.”
reuters.com/article/idUSL1…
6. Nick Rossmann spent over 5 years at the CIA before joining Google in 2022 as Senior Manager of Trust & Safety. His activity on Twitter/X is troubling, especially considering his current position in content moderation.
Why does Nick Rossmann have a problem with white people?
Here are some examples of Rossmann’s unhinged behavior on Twitter/X (all archived):
*Negative tweets about white people:
*Hoping Trump voters cough on their grandparents (giving them COVID) & “get to rot”-
*Asking Trump if he is an agent of a foreign power -
*Calling Trump “a lunatic & a racist”, tagging Keith Olbermann & using the hashtag “Resist” -
*Calling anti-vaxxers Nazis & Confederates - archive.vn/ZdKeT
archive.vn/PYgWh
archive.vn/rOOpB
archive.is/rppqw
archive.vn/xi7t8
archive.vn/Pk5Kh
archive.vn/YWMDD
7. Christopher Porter spent most of his professional career in the Intelligence Community. After 9 years at the CIA, he joined ODNI where he was Head of the IC Cyber Analysis Council leading a team of CIA, FBI, NSA & DOD regarding US elections.
While at the ODNI, he regularly briefed President Biden so it’s only natural that as of June 2022, he joined Google as Head of Threat Intelligence. Porter is also a member of the Atlantic Council
His LinkedIn bio states that he likes to talk about Russia & election security
LinkedIn- archive.is/pFOI2
8. Deborah Wituski joined Google in 2018 as Senior Director Global Intelligence. Her only prior work experience was 19 years at the CIA, where she was Chief of Staff to the Director. Wituski is a member of Council on Foreign Relations.
9. Now why would Deborah’s intelligence desk at Google be so concerned about Putin’s personal life or the innerworkings of the Kremlin?
Full video for reference-
10. Katherine Tobin joined Google in 2021. Her career path is like the others listed in this thread: after 6 years at Booz Allen Hamilton, she spent 4 years at the ODNI, followed by 4 years at the CIA, & then returned to the ODNI for another 3 years.
With over 10 years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Google was the obvious choice for her. On her LinkedIn bio, she states that her favorite problems to solve are promoting DEI
11. Katherine wrote a blog post on LinkedIn, sharing her transition from the CIA to the private sector titled “My New Mission: From Spying to Startups.”
For anyone interested, here is her personal blog- kttobin.net
12. Beth Schmierer joined Google in 2022 as a Global Threat Analyst and Intel Manager.
Her only prior work experience was five years at the CIA. Additionally, she spent nine years in Madrid working for the State Department, where she claims to have been tasked with “implementing the US government’s agenda in Spain & Latin America”
13. Omar Ahmed joined Google in 2020 as Manager of Trust & Safety at Google/YouTube. His only prior work experience is 10 years at the State Department.
I suppose his experience in Indonesia, Afghanistan & Senegal qualifies him to be a content moderator.
14. Jamie Washington joined Google in 2018 as Director of Threat Intelligence. Her only experience prior to joining Google is 2 years at the FBI and 13 years at the CIA (2 years in Iraq).
15. Chelsea Magnant joined Google in 2018 as Public Policy Manager. Her only prior work experience was at the CIA for 9 years. She’s also an instructor at Aspen Institute
16. Dawn Burton joined Google’s Trust & Safety team in 2022. She was previously at Twitter Trust & Safety but was fired by @elonmusk. Prior to this, she spent 6 years at DOJ, then 4 years at FBI as a Senior Advisor to James Comey.
After a career at DOJ & FBI, working for James Comey, it’s totally normal that she would transition to Trust & Safety departments at tech platforms, right?
17. Yong Suk Lee joined Google in 2019 as Director Global Risk Analysis. His only prior work history is 22 years at the CIA where he was the Deputy Assistant Director of Korea Mission Center. He is also a member of Council on Foreign Relations
18. Candice Bryant joined Google in 2021 as Executive & Internal Comms Manager. Her only other work experience was 17 years at the CIA.
She led the CIA's social media team with the goal of boosting the agency's public image.
politico.com/news/2021/09/0…
19. I could list over 100 more examples of individuals whose sole work history is within the Intelligence Community or career State Department diplomats.
Many of these individuals hold positions as content moderators and policy managers. Most of them joined Google/YouTube after 2018.
Is it merely a coincidence that censorship has increased aggressively since then?
20. If you are a “journalist” who covers the censorship issue but chooses to ignore the revolving door, you lack integrity.
If you are a notable figure who’s been censored on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, it's crucial to start questioning why career CIA officers are employed by these companies as content moderators.
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