Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
New Details Emerge About How White House Colluded With Twitter to Censor CHD and RFK Jr.
New “Twitter Files” released today by investigative journalist Paul D. Thacker reveal how a “dark money group” helped the White House and Twitter flag social media posts by Children’s Health Defense and its chairman on leave, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., that contradicted the official government narrative on COVID-19.
By
Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
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New “Twitter Files” released today by investigative journalist Paul D. Thacker reveal new details about how nonprofit organizations and academic researchers colluded with social media platforms, media organizations and the White House to censor Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CHD’s chairman on leave, for spreading “disinformation.”
In “Twitter Files: Who Are the People Claiming RFK Jr. is ‘Disinformation?’” Thacker cited documents he found while examining Twitter’s archives. They show that groups such as the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) worked with Twitter to censor Kennedy and others who questioned the establishment’s COVID-19 narratives.
CCDH drafted a list of the so-called “Disinformation Dozen,” which included Kennedy, Dr. Joseph Mercola and Ty and Charlene Bollinger, founders of The Truth About Vaccines and The Truth About Cancer websites. The list was used by the White House and Twitter, prior to its purchase by Elon Musk, to censor those individuals.
CCDH was able to exert such influence even though its funding sources are not public. Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, previously was connected to the United Kingdom Labour Party, and other CCDH board members have ties to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
CCDH also collaborates with online “fact-checking” firms like NewsGuard.
The latest installment of the “Twitter files” also revealed documentation indicating an Indiana University computer science and informatics professor, Filippo Menczer, Ph.D., contacted Twitter to say that according to his website ranking system, CHD was the “top source” of alleged “disinformation.”
In the same email, Menczer told Twitter that The Associated Press (AP) had cited his website’s findings — and that CHD had misrepresented those same findings, a claim Thacker characterized as ironic.
“Menczer’s statement is itself misinformation,” Thacker said, noting that “In the op-ed Menczer links to in the email, Kennedy does NOT state that his organization is the ‘most trusted source of information about vaccines.’ Kennedy just repeats Menczer’s claims that his organization’s articles are widely shared.”
Thacker, citing recent data from Indiana University’s Observatory on Social Media, noted that “CHD’s website is shared on Twitter more often than those of the World Health Organization and CDC combined” and that its content “is more widely shared than that from Reuters, The Daily Mail, The Washington Post, Newsweek and CNN.”
Thacker told The Defender, “I think that this stuff just shows how ridiculous this entire Big Disinformation infrastructure is. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s oftentimes just designed to police and censor information that is not liked by those in power. That’s what it’s about.”
“These examples fit into a broader narrative,” he added.
Twitter took ‘action’ against Kennedy tweet after ‘Disinformation Dozen’ report
Thacker said the “first thing” he found when examining Twitter’s internal documents for information about CHD were documents showing “Twitter officials discussing action they were taking” on Kennedy, because of the CCDH’s “Disinformation Dozen” report.
“But was the report credible?” Thacker asked. He wanted to know: “Who are these people? Who funds them? How did they become ‘disinformation experts’?”
The March 24, 2021, report by CCDH claimed “Just twelve anti-vaxxers are responsible for almost two-thirds of anti‑vaccine content circulating on social media platforms,” and concluded that “platforms must act” against these individuals.
According to Thacker, Ahmed released the report just as the Biden administration rolled out its COVID-19 vaccine campaign and shortly before the House held hearings on disinformation at social media companies.
In one example, Thacker said, Twitter employees took action on several accounts after the “shady, dark money group” — CCDH — released its report alleging that just 12 accounts produced the majority of anti-vaccine disinformation on social media.
A March 31, 2021, email from Twitter employee Brian Clarke listed several tweets by Kennedy, Mercola and others included in the CCDH’s “Disinformation Dozen.” The email, sent to an internal Twitter list called “COVID19-misinfo-inform,” said:
“COVID-19 misinfo enforcement team is planning on taking action on a handful of accounts surfaced by the CCDH report.
“While none of the 12 accounts are eligible for permanent suspension under COVID-19 misinformation policy, we did find several violations of the COVID-19 Misinformation policy across multiple accounts.”
In the same email, Clarke requested, “If there are no objections after 30 minutes, can you please take action on the following Tweets based on the table below?”
Among the tweets listed was a March 17, 2021, tweet by Kennedy linking to a letter he sent to President Biden, “explaining how transparency, robust science and a functional surveillance system are the only ways to build public trust for the COVID vaccine.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr
@RobertKennedyJr
·
Follow
READ + RT my letter to President Biden explaining how transparency, robust science and a functional surveillance system are the only ways to build public trust for the COVID vaccine. #TheDefender: SUBSCRIBE TODAY: https://bit.ly/3s5twWJ
childrenshealthdefense.org
RFK, Jr. to President Biden: No. 1 Driver of Vaccine Hesitancy Is Mistrust of Regulators
Children’s Health Defense Chairman RFK, Jr. says transparency, robust science and a functional surveillance system are the only ways to build public trust for the COVID vaccine.
4:03 PM · Mar 17, 2021
CONTINUE HERE: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/twitter-files-censor-chd-rfk-jr/?utm_source=luminate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=defender&utm_id=20230718
New “Twitter Files” released today by investigative journalist Paul D. Thacker reveal how a “dark money group” helped the White House and Twitter flag social media posts by Children’s Health Defense and its chairman on leave, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., that contradicted the official government narrative on COVID-19.
By
Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
Miss a day, miss a lot. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day. It's free.
New “Twitter Files” released today by investigative journalist Paul D. Thacker reveal new details about how nonprofit organizations and academic researchers colluded with social media platforms, media organizations and the White House to censor Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CHD’s chairman on leave, for spreading “disinformation.”
In “Twitter Files: Who Are the People Claiming RFK Jr. is ‘Disinformation?’” Thacker cited documents he found while examining Twitter’s archives. They show that groups such as the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) worked with Twitter to censor Kennedy and others who questioned the establishment’s COVID-19 narratives.
CCDH drafted a list of the so-called “Disinformation Dozen,” which included Kennedy, Dr. Joseph Mercola and Ty and Charlene Bollinger, founders of The Truth About Vaccines and The Truth About Cancer websites. The list was used by the White House and Twitter, prior to its purchase by Elon Musk, to censor those individuals.
CCDH was able to exert such influence even though its funding sources are not public. Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, previously was connected to the United Kingdom Labour Party, and other CCDH board members have ties to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
CCDH also collaborates with online “fact-checking” firms like NewsGuard.
The latest installment of the “Twitter files” also revealed documentation indicating an Indiana University computer science and informatics professor, Filippo Menczer, Ph.D., contacted Twitter to say that according to his website ranking system, CHD was the “top source” of alleged “disinformation.”
In the same email, Menczer told Twitter that The Associated Press (AP) had cited his website’s findings — and that CHD had misrepresented those same findings, a claim Thacker characterized as ironic.
“Menczer’s statement is itself misinformation,” Thacker said, noting that “In the op-ed Menczer links to in the email, Kennedy does NOT state that his organization is the ‘most trusted source of information about vaccines.’ Kennedy just repeats Menczer’s claims that his organization’s articles are widely shared.”
Thacker, citing recent data from Indiana University’s Observatory on Social Media, noted that “CHD’s website is shared on Twitter more often than those of the World Health Organization and CDC combined” and that its content “is more widely shared than that from Reuters, The Daily Mail, The Washington Post, Newsweek and CNN.”
Thacker told The Defender, “I think that this stuff just shows how ridiculous this entire Big Disinformation infrastructure is. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s oftentimes just designed to police and censor information that is not liked by those in power. That’s what it’s about.”
“These examples fit into a broader narrative,” he added.
Twitter took ‘action’ against Kennedy tweet after ‘Disinformation Dozen’ report
Thacker said the “first thing” he found when examining Twitter’s internal documents for information about CHD were documents showing “Twitter officials discussing action they were taking” on Kennedy, because of the CCDH’s “Disinformation Dozen” report.
“But was the report credible?” Thacker asked. He wanted to know: “Who are these people? Who funds them? How did they become ‘disinformation experts’?”
The March 24, 2021, report by CCDH claimed “Just twelve anti-vaxxers are responsible for almost two-thirds of anti‑vaccine content circulating on social media platforms,” and concluded that “platforms must act” against these individuals.
According to Thacker, Ahmed released the report just as the Biden administration rolled out its COVID-19 vaccine campaign and shortly before the House held hearings on disinformation at social media companies.
In one example, Thacker said, Twitter employees took action on several accounts after the “shady, dark money group” — CCDH — released its report alleging that just 12 accounts produced the majority of anti-vaccine disinformation on social media.
A March 31, 2021, email from Twitter employee Brian Clarke listed several tweets by Kennedy, Mercola and others included in the CCDH’s “Disinformation Dozen.” The email, sent to an internal Twitter list called “COVID19-misinfo-inform,” said:
“COVID-19 misinfo enforcement team is planning on taking action on a handful of accounts surfaced by the CCDH report.
“While none of the 12 accounts are eligible for permanent suspension under COVID-19 misinformation policy, we did find several violations of the COVID-19 Misinformation policy across multiple accounts.”
In the same email, Clarke requested, “If there are no objections after 30 minutes, can you please take action on the following Tweets based on the table below?”
Among the tweets listed was a March 17, 2021, tweet by Kennedy linking to a letter he sent to President Biden, “explaining how transparency, robust science and a functional surveillance system are the only ways to build public trust for the COVID vaccine.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr
@RobertKennedyJr
·
Follow
READ + RT my letter to President Biden explaining how transparency, robust science and a functional surveillance system are the only ways to build public trust for the COVID vaccine. #TheDefender: SUBSCRIBE TODAY: https://bit.ly/3s5twWJ
childrenshealthdefense.org
RFK, Jr. to President Biden: No. 1 Driver of Vaccine Hesitancy Is Mistrust of Regulators
Children’s Health Defense Chairman RFK, Jr. says transparency, robust science and a functional surveillance system are the only ways to build public trust for the COVID vaccine.
4:03 PM · Mar 17, 2021
CONTINUE HERE: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/twitter-files-censor-chd-rfk-jr/?utm_source=luminate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=defender&utm_id=20230718
