Notes on the Twitter Files (8)

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Lee Fang has made a previously unannounced appearance as chronicler of the Twitter Files. He posted part 8 here yesterday. Who is Lee Fang and what is he doing here? This is the beginning of Fang’s thread with the subject heading and topic sentence.

1. TWITTER FILES PART 8

*How Twitter Quietly Aided the Pentagon’s Covert Online PsyOp Campaign*

Despite promises to shut down covert state-run propaganda networks, Twitter docs show that the social media giant directly assisted the U.S. military’s influence operations.

— Lee Fang (@lhfang) December 20, 2022

Old Twitter made itself a secret collaborator with the government in more ways than one. Fang adds the CENTCOM/military dimension. That is what I get out of Fang’s thread. He also reports his findings in conventional style for The Intercept in this column. Fang concludes his thread with the tweets below.

21. Here is my reported piece w/more detail. I was given access to Twitter for a few days. I signed/agreed to nothing, Twitter had no input into anything I did or wrote. The searches were carried out by a Twitter attorney, so what I saw could be limited. https://t.co/AgcFy71fE3

— Lee Fang (@lhfang) December 20, 2022

I may be missing something, but I would note that at least this operation was not aimed at citizens of the United States, undermined enemies of the United States, did not suppress the speech of disfavored participants to serve partisan interests, and had no bearing on our elections. Fang himself does not draw such distinctions, but they seem basic to me given what we have seen so far.