Mitt Romney Admits Push to Ban TikTok Is Aimed at Censoring the Palestinian Genocide.
A conversation between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Republican senator offered an "incredible historical document" showing how the U.S. views its role in the Middle East.
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I can't say its jaw dropping because it was kinda an open secret but: Given how much actual disinformation and bullshit was going on in the middle of COVID on social media it's a pretty chilling mask off reveal on what the actual priorities are. Honestly if you had told me this is how it would play out even just 2 years ago I don't know if I would have believed it.
The US government also spent tens of millions on posting and promoting anti-vax conspiracy propaganda in other countries.
Indeed. Also worth pointing out to those who may not know: while the bulk of that was part of the trump administration a not insignificant portion of it was conducted under Biden before he shut it down.
Yeah, exactly. It was run by the Pentagon with intelligence service help, which is about as bi-partisan / its own master as you can.
The number rule of counterintelligence is to never reveal your position. I imagine this statement is not the actual truth but instead the narrative that has been agreed to.
I believe the real truth is that TikTok, unlike all other major internet systems, was not built with integration into the USA's surveillance and propaganda systems in mind, and while US operations are fully infiltrated by US state actors, the actual technology and infrastructure remains somehow opaque to US intelligence.
The move to shut it down is really just a move to force a sale. They are banking on the profit motive being enough for ByteDance to give over enough control as to allow the USA to integrate fully with the tech statck.
But no one can say this out loud so a narrative that is believable enough, incendiary enough, and one that actively resisting would trigger infighting about is the perfect narrative.
Honestly
IMHO.The US would like to better control narratives such as — but certainly not limited to — the one about Gaza, and integrating all the English speaking Internet into its surveillance is how they want to do it.
I guess I am saying they don't care about the risk of radicalization as much as they care about their inability to influence thought. If they cared about radicalization, so many things would be a problem. But they only go after the opaque systems, because it's the opacity that's the problem.
