Thread by @AlanRMacLeod

The #TwitterFiles have laid bare how Twitter actively worked with the US military to spread propaganda from US gov-run bot accounts.

But Twitter's relationship with the US national security state goes much further.

Thread🧵

mintpressnews.com/twitter-hiring…

Earlier this year, I reported on how Twitter has been actively recruiting dozens from the ranks of the FBI, CIA and NATO for top jobs in highly sensitive fields like trust & safety, security and content moderation.

mintpressnews.com/twitter-hiring…

What the Twitter Files have shown is that the FBI was actively lying to Twitter about the Hunter Biden case, and how Twitter was actively working with the US military to promote pro-US propaganda in Iran, Yemen and across the Middle East.

Since its early days, Twitter management has worked with the US government to try to overthrow Iran. As far back as 2009, it was collaborating with the Obama administration to stir up anti-government protests there.

And last year, Twitter was a key player in a US-orchestrated regime change attempt in Cuba.

For nearly 2 days, Twitter staff kept the protests at the top of its "What's Happening" sidebar, meaning hundreds of millions of people saw the news.

mintpressnews.com/documents-poin…

It also refused to take action against the huge and blatantly astroturfed bot campaign boosting the regime change hashtag, #sosCuba.

Dozens of tweets per minute, mostly from new accounts. The same message, even with the same minor typos.

https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1414534466798764032

The CIA secretly built a Twitter-like clone app for Cuba called Zunzuneo.

The plan was to take over the Cuban market, then flood people with regime change propaganda.

In 2010, the State Dept met with Twitter's Jack Dorsey and tried to get him to buy it to cover up its origins.

For the record, it seems that Jack did not go along with their plan.

However, in 2019, Twitter did suspend virtually every account belonging to or affiliated with the Cuban government or Communist Party officials. In the past, it has also done the same to Venezuela and China.

And last year, the social media giant announced that it had banned large numbers of accounts for the crime of "undermining faith in the NATO alliance."

mintpressnews.com/twitter-delete…

FWIW, what the Twitter Files revealed is just the tip of the US military's propaganda operation iceberg.

Last year, Newsweek revealed that the Pentagon employs a 60,000-strong secret army of keyboard warriors, whose job is to influence social media.

newsweek.com/exclusive-insi…