Twitter Files describe Covid censorship campaign
RT | December 26, 2022
The latest batch of Twitter documents released by CEO Elon Musk show how the platform censored posts about Covid-19 that didn’t align with the White House’s message. Qualified doctors and epidemiologists were suppressed and banned at the direct request of the Biden administration, the documents suggest.
Both the Trump and Biden administrations pushed Twitter to moderate coronavirus-related content, journalist David Zweig reported on Monday, citing the company’s internal communications. While Trump’s team wanted to tamp down rumors of grocery-store shortages to combat panic-buying, Biden switched focus to “misinformation” about vaccines once his team took over in January 2021.
According to files seen by Zweig, Biden’s staff directly pressured Twitter to ban “high-profile anti-vaxxer accounts,” including that of former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, who has persistently claimed that the risks of vaccination outweigh the benefits. Twitter complied and suspended Berenson in July 2021, but Twitter employees said afterwards that “the Biden team” was still “not satisfied” with the platform’s censorship efforts, and angrily demanded that it “de-platform several accounts.”
Twitter placed a warning label on the account of a Harvard epidemiologist who argued that “those with prior natural infection” do not need to be vaccinated, and flagged as “misleading” tweets that cited the Biden administration’s own data on Covid death rates. It used a combination of AI “bots” and contracted moderators in foreign countries to make these decisions.
A physician was flagged for sharing the results of a peer-reviewed study linking vaccination with cardiac arrests in young people, while another doctor was permanently suspended for referring to a published study suggesting that vaccination temporarily impairs male patients’ sperm count.
“Dissident yet legitimate content was labeled as misinformation, and the accounts of doctors and others were suspended both for tweeting opinions and demonstrably true information,” Zweig tweeted.
When former President Donald Trump urged his followers not to “be afraid of Covid” following his own recovery from the illness, Twitter’s senior moderators debated taking action against the tweet, before concluding that Trump’s “optimistic” assessment did not count as misinformation.
Since purchasing Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has released batches of documents shedding light on the platform’s previously opaque censorship policies. Published by several independent journalists, these document dumps have shown how Twitter suppressed information damaging to Joe Biden’s election campaign, colluded with the FBI to remove content the agency wanted hidden, assisted the US military’s online influence campaigns, and censored “anti-Ukraine narratives” on behalf of multiple US intelligence agencies.
IRGC arrests seven riot leaders linked with UK intelligence services
The Cradle | December 26, 2022
Seven individuals active during the recent riots in Iran’s Kerman Province with ties to the United Kingdom were detained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on 25 December, Tasnim news agency reported.
According to information released on 26 December by the IRGC’s Tharallah base in the Kerman Province of central Iran, seven individuals of a network with ties to UK intelligence services were detained. Those arrested had allegedly been leading riots and were in charge of recent disturbances in the area.
The network, which went by the name “Zagros,” collected anti-revolutionary agents from inside and outside the nation to carry out plots against the Islamic Republic in an attempt to destablize the government, particularly during the most recent unrest, IRNA reported.
According to the information released by the IRGC’s Tharallah base, among those detained were dual nationals who had been trying to flee the country.
The British foreign ministry stated that it was requesting more information from Iranian officials in response to claims that dual citizens of Iran and the United Kingdom had been detained there.
On 1 December, the head of the IRGC’S Basij forces was quoted as saying that the ‘enemies’ of the Islamic Republic have been using “hybrid warfare” against the country throughout the recent unrest, and that 47 foreign intelligence agencies are involved.
Last month, a number of French intelligence agents were also detained in Iran in relation to the unrest gripping the country, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV on 16 November.
“People of other nationalities were arrested in the riots, some of whom played a big role. There were elements from the French intelligence agency and they will be dealt with according to the law,” Vahidi said.
The interior minister did not specify the number of agents detained nor where they were discovered.
Several Mossad agents have also been arrested in Iran over recent months, who were allegedly planning to carry out sabotage operations and assassinations targeting security personnel.
On 22 December, Iran’s security forces identified and arrested members of four Mossad-affiliated operational teams, according to a statement disclosed by Tehran’s Intelligence Ministry.
The statement elaborated on how the Israeli intelligence agency planned to exploit Iran’s current instability in recent weeks, which began due to nationwide riots instigated by the alleged murder of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s Gasht-e-Ershad, also known as the morality police.
The Intelligence Ministry further added that it obtained “clues” about a Mossad ringleader based in Europe, disclosing that information regarding the investigation will be revealed upon completion.
A few days prior, in a similar incident, the Intelligence Ministry disclosed that it arrested several members of the Mossad group who were allegedly planning to sabotage Tehran’s defense industry.
Russia ready to resume gas supplies to EU – official
RT | December 26, 2022
Moscow is ready to restart supplies of natural gas to the EU via the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said on Monday. He noted that shipments through the route were halted for political reasons.
According to the official, the EU remains a relevant market for Russia, which is able to resume supplies to a region suffering from a gas shortage.
“For example, the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, which was shut down for political reasons, remains unused,” Novak said.
Gas supplies via the pipeline, which usually flow westward, have been mostly reversed since Poland terminated a supply contract with Russia ahead of its end-2022 expiry date, after rejecting Moscow’s demand for ruble payments. The Polish leg of the route is currently being used to pump stored gas from Germany.
In response to Warsaw’s move, Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom cut off supplies, saying it could no longer send gas via Poland, while Moscow imposed sanctions against the firm that owns the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
Although Russian gas deliveries to the EU via the Nord Stream and Yamal-Europe pipelines have been halted, Russian gas is still being supplied to certain European buyers via a transit line through Ukraine and the TurkStream pipeline through Türkiye.
Despite the persisting problems, Novak says he still sees the EU as a viable market for Russia.
“Today we can confidently say that there is a stable demand for our gas. Therefore, we continue to consider Europe as a potential market for our products. It is clear that a large-scale campaign was launched against us, which ended with acts of sabotage against the Nord Stream pipelines,” he said.
The market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) also remains open, according to Novak, who noted that Russian LNG supplies to the EU are expected to grow to 21 billion cubic meters by the end of the year.
Twitter Files – The important question
The decline of the MSM
The Naked Emperor’s Newsletter | December 26, 2022
When Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, he promised to scrutinise the previous administration. Whether this was because he genuinely wanted to emancipate the company or because he was annoyed at being forced to pay the price he paid (after being sued), who knows but it provides for some interesting reading.
Musk enlisted the help of several journalists, including Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, Michael Shellenberger and Lee Fang. Apparently, his one request was that any information found must first be revealed on Twitter.
On 2 December, the first instalment of the Twitter files was released with the most recent, ninth part, published on Christmas Eve.
So, what have we learnt so far?
Benjamin Carlson provides a good summary:
- History changed because of this:
- Hunter Biden’s alleged corruption censored;
- Covid 19 lockdown debate stifled;
- Trump silenced.
You may agree with each decision. But there is no denying that halting information flow and free debate had real consequences.
- Many things called conspiracy theories were true:
- FBI was working with Twitter and paid them million of dollars;
- Blacklists and shadow bans were real;
- US intel lobbied to censor accounts;
- Covid-19 conversation was heavily manipulated;
- Twitter rules changed and enforced by whim.
- Censorship is being cloaked in the language of safety:
- ‘Safety, harm, violence’ redefined to apply to ideas;
- Opinions and information deemed ‘unsafe’ subject to silencing;
- Jokes, memes, questions about the origin of Covid off limits.
- The government is policing opinion:
- FBI has 80 staff monitoring speech;
- Small accounts on left and right flagged;
- FBI held frequent meetings with Twitter;
- Facebook, Youtube and Instagram = similar?
- Private censors & police control what you say and to whom.
- Social media executives lie freely:
- Twitter execs repeatedly and publicly denied shadow bans;
- In reality, bans were in place as “visibility filtering”;
- Ultimately, no accountability to public.
- Free speech is controlled by a small group:
- Biggest decisions in Twitter Files made by 3-4 individuals;
- Despite misgivings and doubts, once made, decisions stuck;
- Now it’s Musk.
One difference: his embrace of public polls to set policy.
- The slippery slope is real:
- Staff rebellion led to Trump ban;
- Staff called for more covid-19 censorship;
- 2021-22 saw increase of bans and ‘one-offs’.
This is how you get Billy Baldwin in the crosshairs.
Once you silence a president, who has a right to speak?
This is all massive stuff but nothing most of us didn’t already know or suspect. And the Fauci files that Musk keeps saying he will release haven’t been published yet.
But the important question is, why have the Main Stream Media barely reported on it? If we had learnt that the secret services in another country had meddled with elections in their country, it would be everywhere. But happens in the West and nothing.
I keep getting adverts from the BBC popping up telling me to trust them.
So what have the BBC written about the Twitter files to earn my trust? It seems they have only written a brief article, two weeks ago, merely touching on the issues mentioned above. The article titled “Twitter Files spark debate about ‘blacklisting’” says we are missing the context as to whether other accounts have faced similar treatment. Furthermore, they question whether the restricted accounts were in breach of rules for example spreading false claims about Covid.
The BBC continues, “restricting accounts can be a useful tool if they are spreading harmful material.” and “there have been various reports suggesting marginalised groups including trans and plus size people were more likely to have their accounts restricted.”
So, unfortunately, I can’t trust you BBC, you haven’t written one sentence on the implications such meddling could have had on the US elections. If there had been an equivalent Russian Twitter Files, you would have been on the case every single day.
Marianna Spring, the BBC’s infamous disinformation correspondent analyses the situation at the end of the article. Unsurprisingly, but predictably, her main point is that how you interpret the “Twitter Files” depends on how you think misinformation should be dealt with. She also says that those caught up in the revelations have received backlash online.
Again, nothing about how the misinformation and censorship may have changed the outcome of the US election.
But that’s about it from the BBC.
Next on to the Guardian. They have one article called “I read Elon Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ so you don’t have to” which pretty much sums up their position. The article describes the censorship as “individual examples of rightwing users being on the end of light-touch moderation” and Jay Bhattacharya as a “Covid sceptic”.
And again, other than this, the Guardian haven’t reported on the issue since.
The more right wing leaning newspapers have a few more stories. The Times and Telegraph reported on how Twitter aided the Pentagon, how Donald Trump was banned and a Republican claim that the Biden family is the most corrupt in history.
The Daily Mail is probably the only UK paper to have covered this story in detail.
So why, after all of the revelations from the “Twitter Files” is much of the Main Stream Media so happy to ignore what had been going on? It’s a rhetorical question. I know the answer and you know the answer but it’s one which erodes any remaining trust we might have in MSM reporting.
Most people, especially older people, trust the BBC, read the odd headline and watch the evening news. So, when the real scandals revealed in the “Twitter Files” are never reported on, the general population don’t have a clue. Even with well-read people, I have tried to discuss the topic but they haven’t even heard of the “Twitter Files”, let alone what has been revealed.
And this is before the Fauci files are released, if they ever are. But if they are, then don’t for one second think that the general public will hear about them or change their position on anything to do with Covid. It just won’t happen unfortunately. If the MSM do report on the Fauci files, it will be brief and they will conclude that lockdowns were necessary to prevent deaths and vaccines are a miracle from God.
Russian president offers negotiations while US senator calls to “take Putin out”
By Drago Bosnic | December 26, 2022
On December 25, during an interview on Rossiya-1 state television, President Vladimir Putin stated that the Russian Federation is ready to negotiate a peace deal to end the conflict in Ukraine. However, he once again reiterated his position that the political West is the power pole that Moscow is willing to initiate peace talks with, as the Kiev regime cannot be considered sovereign enough to negotiate an acceptable end to the conflict. The president of Russia also added that the Eurasian giant never refused initiatives for negotiations and that it was the other way around.
“We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them – we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are,” Putin said and added: “I believe that we are acting in the right direction, we are defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens.”
However, although Russia is ready to negotiate, it doesn’t think peace talks are necessary at all costs. Instead, Moscow’s primary goal is its security. This doesn’t only include a negotiated settlement that would halt NATO’s crawling encroachment on Russia’s western borders, but would also ensure the neutral status of Ukraine. Still, this status cannot be secured just by simply signing deals with the political West. The experience regarding this has been extremely negative, to say the least, as the belligerent power pole is infamous for its tendency to break deals ever since the (First) Cold War ended.
During the interview, Putin also reiterated his position that the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance are waging a proxy war against Russia by using Ukraine as a pawn. He also said that the political West is trying to “tear Russia apart” and essentially destroy it. “At the core of it all is the policy of our geopolitical opponents, aiming to tear Russia apart, the historical Russia,” Putin said. “They have always tried to ‘divide and conquer’… Our goal is something else – to unite the Russian people,” he concluded.
The parties to the conflict don’t appear to be any closer to peace talks, however. On the contrary, this scenario seems further from reality than ever before. While the US keeps arming the Kiev regime, including with “Patriot” SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems that are earmarked to be transferred to the Neo-Nazi junta forces as soon as possible, the Russian military seems to be preparing for another massive push. The Kiev regime simply doesn’t seem to have any intention of negotiating a peace deal, as proven by the Neo-Nazi junta’s frontman Volodymyr Zelensky. Last Wednesday he made a speech before the US Congress and boastfully declared that “absolute victory” is the “only acceptable outcome” and that he vehemently rejects any talks which would include territorial concessions.
Zelensky’s statements were soon supported by the controversial US South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham. However, he went even further than Zelensky and made several remarks that couldn’t possibly be further from the most basic diplomatic etiquette. During a live Fox News interview, Graham called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be assassinated. “How does this war end? When Russia breaks, and they take Putin out. Anything short of that, the war’s gonna continue,” Graham said on Wednesday’s America Reports on Fox. The first part of the comment also reaffirms Putin’s belief that the political West wants to “tear Russia apart”.
He also stated that the Russian military will supposedly “fail in Ukraine”, because “the US is in it to win it, and the only way you’re gonna win it is to break the Russian military and have somebody in Russia take Putin out to give the Russian people a new lease on life.” Graham further called on the US and NATO to continue arming the Kiev regime forces “completely, all in without equivocation” and that sending additional long-range missiles to the Neo-Nazi junta would “help dislodge Russian forces from the Donbas, and even Crimea.” He also added that “larger drones would kill tons of Russians without losing any Ukrainians in the endeavor” and concluded that giving Zelensky everything he’s asking for is “essential”.
This wasn’t the first time Graham publicly called for Vladimir Putin to be killed. He made similar remarks back in early March. This even prompted an official rebuke from the Biden administration. At the time, the White House Press Secretary stated “that is not the position of the United States government and certainly not a statement you’d hear come from the mouth of anybody working in this administration.” However, this obviously didn’t stop Graham from repeating the threat.
On the contrary, he essentially also added a call for a coup in Russia. To make matters worse, Graham is not alone in this. In early October, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton called Putin “a legitimate military target” and also called for a coup in Moscow. With such comments coming from the top of the US political establishment, it’s hard to imagine how Russia could ever hope to start negotiations with the belligerent thalassocracy.
Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Predicts Downfall of Western Economic Leadership
Samizdat – 26.12.2022
MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that the West was bound to lose its leading role in the global economic hierarchy.
“The revision of risks and threats stemming from such dependence [on the Western leadership] is progressing rapidly. I assure you that we will soon see the West’s capacity to steer the global economy shrink drastically,” he told Russian media.
Lavrov said that many countries were increasingly disillusioned with the West after initially seeing the “instruments and mechanisms” at its disposal as promoting a global balance of interests. Russia, in particular, came to distrust the West after the recent breakdown in bilateral ties.
“We will not be running after the West after it severed almost all ties… We will seek out those who have never let us down and with whom we had to make difficult compromises in the past — but once we agreed on something they never failed us,” he said.
Lavrov argued that the Biden administration was bent on universalizing its vision of Western liberal democracy, as described by American political scientist Francis Fukuyama in his 1992 book, “The End of History and the Last Man.”
“American envoys demand that every country take a tough stance on Russia, join the sanctions and stop dealing with Russian representatives. It is all part of this plan to bring about the end of history by ensuring the final and irreversible dominance of the so-called golden billion,” he said.