Twitter Files showed that the FBI and other federal government agencies worked hand-in-hand with social media giants in controlling information during the Covid pandemic and the 2020 presidential election, so it only makes sense that other countries may have done the same thing — it’s clear Big Tech was open to such intrusions.
In the U.K., The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that a British government unit, the Counter-Disinformation Unit (CDU), worked with social media firms to shut down criticism of Covid lockdown policies and, according to the Daily Mail, Twitter boss Elon Musk has joined the outcry over the allegations.
Musk reportedly called the alleged actions by the CDU, which leads the British government’s response to “disinformation threats” online, “terrible.”
“Documents revealed under Freedom of Information and data protection requests showed that the activities of prominent critics of Covid policies were secretly monitored, according to the report in the Daily Telegraph,” the Daily Mail reported. “Twitter and Tesla owner Mr Musk, 51, described this alleged use as ‘terrible.'”
A British government spokesman disputed the allegation: “The unit has never tracked the activity of individuals and has a blanket ban on referring journalists and MPs to social media platforms.”
More from the Telegraph:
A secretive Government unit worked with social media companies in an attempt to curtail discussion of controversial lockdown policies during the pandemic, the Telegraph can reveal.
The Counter-Disinformation Unit (CDU) was set up by ministers to tackle supposed domestic “threats”, and was used to target those critical of lockdown and questioning the mass vaccination of children.
Critics of lockdown had posts removed from social media. There is growing suspicion that social media firms used technology to stop the posts being promoted, circulated or widely shared after being flagged by the CDU or its counterpart in the Cabinet Office.
Interestingly, Musk stands by his acquisition of Twitter despite an “outrageously high price,” explaining during an appearance on the Vigilante Fox podcast that there’s something more important at play while carefully noting that there has been a lot of deception within social media companies.
“It was still the right move to acquire Twitter, even at the outrageously high price,” the billionaire said. “I think it’s going to turn out to be important.”
.@ElonMusk: “It Was Still the Right Move to Acquire Twitter, Even at the Outrageously High Price”
“Pretty much all of the social media companies and the search companies were acting in unison. So, where do you find the truth if everyone is in lockstep with a lie?” pic.twitter.com/UvytZNVzgQ
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) June 4, 2023
Musk explained that there are other investors who joined him in the purchase and that he wants “to make sure that the others who invested with me do not suffer losses.”
“So I’ll make sure that the ultimate outcome is better than their original investment, so I want to be careful,” he said, before adding, “Pretty much all of the social media companies and the search companies were acting in unison — along with the legacy media — so, where do you find the truth if everyone is in lockstep with a lie?”
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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