12/30/22 Eli Clifton on Twitter’s Hypocritical Acceptance of US Information Operations

Scott brings Eli Clifton of Responsible Statecraft on to discuss the recent revelations about Twitter’s boosting of U.S. military information operations. They go over some of the details outlined in Lee Fang’s thread, which served as part 8 of the ongoing Twitter Files. Fang reveals Twitter’s hypocrisy as the firm publicly exposed and censored disinformation campaigns by foreign governments while it worked to amplify specific fake propaganda accounts at the request of the Pentagon. Scott and Clifton go through what we learned and then zoom out. Although they see a lot of value in these Twitter Files disclosures, the two also voice concern over the lack of action Musk appears to be taking beyond just exposing past behavior. They point out how financially dependent Musk is on the government which serves as a natural ceiling to how much he can expose and upset the military and intelligence agencies. They also talk about the enormous scale and efficacy of foreign lobbying on the government, DC think tanks and America’s largest companies. 

Discussed on the show:

• “How Twitter hid US-military info ops from the public” (Responsible Statecraft)
• “The Twitter Files Part 8: How Twitter Quietly Aided the Pentagon’s Covert Online PsyOp Campaign” (Twitter)
• “DC think tank puts hawkish former Aussie PM on China Center board” (Responsible Statecraft)

Eli Clifton is a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute and Investigative-Journalist-at-Large at Responsible Statecraft. Follow him on Twitter @EliClifton.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and Thc Hemp Spot.

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