Thread by @Pinboard

Every day I go out and see stuff with my own eyes, and then I go to report it on Twitter and see promoted tweets saying the opposite of what I saw. Twitter is taking money from Chinese propaganda outfits and running these promoted tweets against the top Hong Kong protest hashtags

What China is doing is clear. If these peaceful, extremely self-disciplined protesters who enjoy the clear backing of the overwhelming majority of Hong Kongers can be discredited, it will be easier to crack down. What the fuck Twitter thinks it's doing is less clear.

If you work at Twitter, I'm asking you on bended knee to make it stop. Don't be complicit in this.

Xinhua, the agency buying these tweets, has literally referred to the Hong Kong protesters as 'cockroaches'. Today a 17 year old kid at a march insisted on holding his umbrella over my head for three miles because it was raining. I looked very carefully - no antennae, human eyes

Please, if you're getting them too, post or describe your favorite paid Chinese propaganda tweet in this thread

Here's the question: a bunch of young people in Hong Kong are standing up to their government, at terrific personal risk, to fight for basic human rights. Will a bunch of Twitter employees, at far less risk, stand up to their CEO and refuse to be used as a weapon against them?

First thing I see on my Twitter feed this morning (even though @thegrugq made an effort to get it off my front page) is more paid venom from Xinhua

@thegrugq I just came home from a completely peaceful march where possibly a million Hong Kong residents came out, with no police in sight, to call for basic democratic rights. What greets me is straight up lies from Xinhua about "bands of thugs", courtesy of Twitter advertising.

@thegrugq It is time for Twitter users (and employees) to call for stopping violence, ending chaos, and restoring order on Twitter. Stop selling promoted tweets to Xinhua, who are running an orchestrated state-backed campaign to discredit and dehumanize the authentic voice of Hong Kong

@thegrugq I am calling on Twitter to disclose:

1) How much money it took from Xinhua
2) How many ads it ran for them since the start of the Hong Kong protests in June and
3) How those ads were targeted

@thegrugq I think there should be congressional hearings on the role of Twitter in advancing a coordinated Chinese disinformation campaign. We are approaching a U.S. election year and need to know what controls and internal safeguards Twitter has, beyond "ask the underfed half-time CEO"