Mike Benz Profile picture
Sep 13, 2023 16 tweets 9 min read Read on X
What I'm forced to reflect on as the legacy of 9/11, in my work on the censorship industry
Here is Cass Sunstein's influential Harvard journal article proposing "cognitive infiltration" of conspiracy theory movements by anonymous federal agents to influence thoughts leaders & shift their theories in ways more favorable to the US government.
tinyurl.com/v4h9ph3e
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Cass Sunstein's wife is the head of USAID, Samantha Power. USAID is the world's most famous conduit for CIA covert action funding.

To see the crazy relationship bwn CIA & USAID, USAID was recently busted recruiting rappers for the CIA to start a youth revolution in Cuba Image
Cass Sunstein wrote his Harvard proposal for the US gov't to "cognitively infiltrate" conspiracy theory movements via anonymous federal agents in 2008. His crisis response was largely b/c a free & open YouTube, created in 2005, was the primary publishing forum for 9/11 skeptics. Image
That same year, 2008, fresh off publishing "Conspiracy Theories," Sunstein would create the framework that today is held up by the censorship industry as the model for conceiving new Internet censorship techniques to shift populist political opinions.

Welcome to "Nudge Theory." Image
Now before I go any farther, let me first reassure you I'm not making this up. "Nudge" is everywhere now.

Everywhere. The Senate has a "Nudge Act" to compel censorship. AI censorship services pitch "behavioral nudge modification." Products, services, policies, research & more.


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Here is just one US government-funded Internet censorship "research study" funded last year by the National Science Foundation to help Kate Starbird's UW censorship center devise new "Nudge" techniques for censoring elections and Covid skepticism.
tinyurl.com/2s4d44cy



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"Nudge Theory" is the bedrock of an unholy new field, born after the 2016 election, called "media literacy" (also called "digital literacy")

"Media literacy" means if you don't read the right news sources (aka, mainstream slop), you are "media illiterate" & must be re-educated.


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One of the most prolific Digital MKULTRA scientists crafting new censorship techniques is Sander van der Lin (UCambridge "Social Decision-Making Lab")

Sander's goal is to "vaccinate your brain" against beliefs the US & UK govts don't want you to have

He, too, is a Nudge addict
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With "psychological vaccination" and "Nudge Theory" in tow, Sander van der Lin was hand-picked as a UK-based foreign conduit for the US State Dept to launder anti-populist brainwashing in the form of politically rigged "counter-misinformation" video games
Ahead of elections around the world, the US gov't is rolling out these new Nudge-based psychology-manipulating video games in local schools as a "disinformation booster-shot" to stop social media sharing pro-populist movement content, such as w/ Trumpism or UK's Brexit movement Image
In case it's not patently obvious already: the purpose of all this is purely political.

The purpose is rig elections in favor of regime candidates, by making millions of voters "less likely to share content" online that the US State Dept & UKFO deem "political misinformation" Image
Here, watch this star of the US-UK govts new political "thought control" game industry explain his other games controlling the psychological response to gov't Covid-19 policies.

Note how the government's censorship targets are all posts criticizing the government:
Here, Sander van der Linden, lab-partnered w/ the US State Dept & CISA, explains how his censorship techniques are moving from reactive "fact-checking" & "debunking" to proactive brainwashing built on "cognitive vaccination" & "prebunking"

This is the science of censorship:
Sander van der Linden's Internet censorship & Digital MKULTRA government propaganda brainwashing lab is partnered w/ CISA -- the notorious censorship agency inside DHS -- as well as the British gov't.

Their top private sector partner is Google's CIA branch, Jigsaw:

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more on this tmrw, gotta sleep

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More from @MikeBenzCyber

Feb 6
I'll add beyond the Epstein CIA Files we also need the Epstein State Department Files. One of the big mysteries of the Epstein 1990s is how in the flying hell he had the US Department of State as his personal landlord. State *at the very least* has files from then we should see. Image
2. The formal Epstein - State Dept relationship under the Clinton admin is gobsmacking for many reasons. First, Epstein visited the Clinton White House at least 17 times, so seemed to have a direct advisory, consultation or possibly a logistics coordination role in US statecraft Image
3. Second reason we need all State Dept records around this 1990s Epstein housing arrangement, esp its inbound comms from other agencies (CIA, namely) is BECAUSE EPSTEIN RENTED OUT THE MANSION TO THE DEFENSE LAWYER FOR TWO MAJOR DRUG RINGS THAT BOTH HAD ALLEGED CIA INVOLVEMENT Image
Read 7 tweets
Feb 3
Trump State Dept must IMMEDIATELY review all recs & comms btwn (1) Biden’s State Dept, esp US Amb to France & Embassy, & (2) all French Ministry of Justice & Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacts, for FULL INTERNAL AUDIT of coordination on disinformation & platform governance work
2. And the same internal audit MUST be done vis a vis Biden State Dept & Spain. I am telling you, this exercise, combined with publication of the results of this audit, is an ABSOLUTE MUST.
3. I have meticulously documented over a decade’s body of work how the US State Dept built the Censorship Industrial Complex in France and in Spain through funding a swarm army grantee network of NGOs, flaggers, fact-checkers, university centers, & disinfo rapid-response units.
Read 10 tweets
Feb 2
A couple interesting notes on the reveal that Obama’s White House Counsel (top lawyer to the President) Kathy Ruemmler emailed Jeffrey Epstein she was awarded the CIA Agency Medal just hours after getting the award 🧵 Image
2) When I saw this, I wondered why I’d never heard this before. Her CIA Agency Award in 2015 was not and still has never been reported by any press outlet whatsoever, not even a fringe one. It’s not in her Wikipedia. It’s not in her extensive current Goldman Sachs bio.
3) I’ve covered many times, for example, how BlackRock’s Vice Chairman proudly lists his winning the CIA’s Director’s Award openly on his official BlackRock bio. Image
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Read 14 tweets
Feb 1
In 1999, Jeffrey Epstein anonymously FOIA'd the CIA to obtain all CIA records "that might reflect an open or otherwise acknowledged Agency affiliation" between himself and the CIA. In 2011, he wrote again to see if CIA had acknowledged any links with him in the 12 years since 🧵 Image
2) By using a lawyer to go through the Privacy Act, this ensured the public couldn't know Jeffrey Epstein was the requester of the CIA records about himself, and all correspondence would remain between the CIA and Epstein's law firm. Image
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3) First, I must point out this is an exceptionally interesting file in part because it is actionable. It discloses two CIA file reference numbers, Epstein's 1999 request for CIA records about himself (P-1999-02450) and Epstein's later 2011 request (P-2011-00673) Image
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Read 25 tweets
Jan 29
Since NED is the epicenter of the Censorship Industrial Complex, & after Trump's 2016 win NED began hiring officers & directors for their specialty in censorship work, here's a 🧵 on the Censorship Industrial Complex activities of Rep. Joaquin Castro, on NED's board since 2023: Image
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2: Since Castro is on both the House Intelligence Cmte & Foreign Affairs, he's uniquely privy to & influential on CIA, State Dept, USAID & NED matters, which those committees oversee. 2017-2018, Castro led the intelligence crusade that "Russian disinfo" online helped Trump win. Image
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3: As the 2020 election approached, Castro demanded the FBI take action on "right-wing misinformation" on social media that might get Latino voters to vote Trump. That demand held weight as Castro both oversaw the FBI in Congress & also chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Image
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Read 23 tweets
Dec 27, 2025
Wow. Incredible find here. Imran Ahmed, the censorship operative who pledged “black ops” against RFK and whose annual priority was to “Kill Elon’s Twitter” is being represented in court by Norm Eisen !! Image
Norm Eisen specifically made Internet censorship a cornerstone of his domestic color revolution playbook, published in 2025. Eisen personally representing Imran Ahmed now should be understood in that context.
Norm Eisen "personally trained prosecutors and judges" in USAID / State Dept Rule of Law programs before quarterbacking the domestic color revolution network against Trump when he won in 2016
Read 5 tweets

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