Amil Khan Profile picture
“Syria psy-ops veteran” and “metropolitan elite poshboy”. From Wembley. Founder of @valent_projects; ex Reuters Middle East corro, ex BBC investigations
Mar 2, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
If @DAlperovitch’s assessment here is right (i think it is), the information situation will change too. Russia’s strategy is already working hard to discredit Ukrainian resistance via the racist/Nazi claim. A more vicious conflict will provide more “proof points”. 1/X Keep in mind; Western leaders initially embraced the Arab Spring and talked about “being on the right side of history”. Perceptions and politics are fickle. It’s difficult to remember now that there was a lot of popular support for Western intervention in Libya at the time 2/X
Mar 1, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read
Ive been monitoring social media on #Ukraine disinformation today and based on that and my experience of #Syria, i’m gonna go out on a limb with a prediction here……. #thread 1/X Russian affiliated media has settled on a narrative that it is pushing hard on; Ukrainians are racists/Nazis and the sympathy for them in Europe is driven by racism. Keep in mind Russia’s premier private military company is run by an actual Nazi 2/X
Mar 1, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
For Muslim Twitter; yes, there is focus on Ukraine in a way they were never was on Yemen, Palestine or the plight of Syrian refugees. But the answer isnt “but why not X?” It should be “yes, and also X”. If a principle is being defended, why undermine that? 1/X On Syrian refugees; keep in mind UK perceptions towards Syrian refugees were positive and welcoming in 2011/12. Remember “hot Syrian rebel” memes, and photos on in the NYT of Egyptian christians protecting praying Muslims. 2/X
Dec 14, 2019 13 tweets 3 min read
As a former journalist who just worked on progressive campaigns during this election; there are a couple of basic truths that it is important for UK progressives to accept otherwise we will condemn ourselves to an unending spiral of failure and bitterness. #thread Firstly; #Labour didnt lose because the media was against it. This might feel like a warm blanket in the post-election freezing wind, but it’s crap. The way digital information has developed means that narratives are mostly formed online before the papers magnify them
Aug 31, 2019 5 tweets 2 min read
The @FT’s take on Tim Bell is on the money. I worked for him one. I remember sitting in the meeting where he closed down our section and thinking “OMG, he still thinks we live in the 70s”. For him, it was all about charm and connections. But you cant dismiss him and his legacy as history. The “morality free” approach he championed (“everyone deserves representation- legal and public”) is shaping our world now.
Aug 9, 2019 32 tweets 7 min read
Watching the #SteveBannon film @TheBrinkFilm - while eating chicken Biryani. Potential for live tweeting... Gotta admit, Bannon saying “it’s not about your religion, race or secual preference.. it’s about economic nationalism” is not a Bannon im used to seeing
Jun 2, 2019 6 tweets 2 min read
Some thoughts on Rory Stewart’s leadership campaign #RoryWalks strategy. 1. I suspect the social media element is the main thrust, which would make it a comms-centred strategy (instead of prioritising internal jostling, for example) #thread 1/X 2. RS’s approach seems to be to define a problem; ‘politicians arent listening to what people want’, and then show how he’s addressing that problem by going out and talking to people (and filming it for dissemination). 2/X