Twitter helped promote US navy’s actions in the Middle East, in keeping with an investigation primarily based on firm information.

Twitter labored with the Pentagon to amplify propaganda in regards to the United States navy’s actions in the Middle East, permitting faux accounts to push pro-US narratives regardless of pledging to close down covert state-run affect campaigns, in keeping with an investigation primarily based on Twitter’s inside information.

Twitter secretly created a particular “whitelist” exempting accounts run by US Central Command (CENTCOM) from spam and abuse flags, granting them better visibility on the platform, in keeping with the investigation by Lee Fang, a reporter with The Intercept.

Twitter quietly launched the function in 2017 after US navy officers requested the corporate to enhance the visibility of 52 Arab language accounts used to “amplify certain messages”, in keeping with the investigation, which was revealed on Twitter and in The Intercept.

CENTCOM’s “priority accounts” promoted data in assist of US navy narratives, together with criticism of Iran, assist for the US and Saudi Arabia-backed conflict in Yemen, and claims in regards to the superior accuracy of US drone strikes, in keeping with Fang.

CENTCOM subsequently hid its possession of the accounts, Fang stated, in some instances utilizing faux profile photos and bios to present the impression they have been run by civilians in the Middle East.

While Twitter has stated it doesn’t enable misleading state-backed affect operations, the social media firm was conscious of CENTCOM’s covert exercise and tolerated the presence of the accounts on the platform till not less than May 2022, Fang stated.

1. TWITTER FILES PART 8

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

Despite guarantees to close down covert state-run propaganda networks, Twitter docs present that the social media large straight assisted the U.S. navy’s affect operations.

— Lee Fang (@lhfang) December 20, 2022

“One Twitter official who spoke to me said he feels deceived by the covert shift. Still, many emails from throughout 2020 show that high-level Twitter executives were well aware of DoD’s [Department of Defence] vast network of fake accounts & covert propaganda and did not suspend the accounts,” Fang stated on Twitter on Tuesday.

“For example, Twitter lawyer Jim Baker mused in a July 2020 email, about an upcoming DoD meeting, that the Pentagon used ‘poor tradecraft’ in setting up its network, and were seeking strategies for not exposing the accounts that are ‘linked to each other or to DoD or the USG’.”

Baker, Twitter’s former deputy common counsel, didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Twitter.

The revelations are the most recent in a sequence of tales primarily based on the so-called “Twitter files” – inside firm paperwork that Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter in October, shared with a number of journalists at non-mainstream publications.

Musk, one of many world’s richest males, has forged the discharge of the paperwork as an effort to spice up transparency in regards to the social media platform’s operations below earlier administration, whom he has accused of censorship and favouring liberal views and personalities.

Previous iterations of the Twitter information have documented “blacklists” that restricted the attain of conservative figures, in addition to the interior deliberations that led to the suspension of former US President Donald Trump from the platform and the suppression of the story about emails on Hunter Biden’s laptop computer.

The launch of Twitter’s inside information has generated a blended, typically polarised, response.

While conservatives have seized on the information as proof of Twitter’s liberal bias and hostility to free speech, many liberal figures have forged the releases as displaying the good-faith efforts of workers to grapple with troublesome moderation choices.

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have promised to cooperate on international challenges and agreed on the need to enhance strained relations after sitting down for his or her first in-person meeting as nationwide leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

The meeting on Monday, which lasted three hours, concerned “candid” discussions on a variety of points, together with Taiwan, commerce, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in keeping with separate statements from their workplaces.

Following the talks, Biden informed reporters he believed “there need be no new Cold War”, whereas their workplaces mentioned the 2 leaders harassed the significance of cooperation between Beijing and Washington to deal with international points.

“Biden underscored that the United States and China must work together to address transnational challenges — such as climate change, global macroeconomic stability including debt relief, health security, and global food security — because that is what the international community expects,” the White House mentioned.

The official Chinese information company, Xinhua, additionally cited Xi as saying that the “two sides should work with all countries to bring more hope to world peace, greater confidence in global stability, and stronger impetus to common development”.

The meeting follows a spike in tensions between the 2 international locations after prime US legislator Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier this 12 months and Biden promised to defend the self-ruled island — which Beijing claims as its personal — if China invades it.

“On Taiwan, [Biden] laid out in detail that our one China policy has not changed, the United States opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and the world has an interest in the maintenance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the White House mentioned.

Under the “One China policy”, the US recognises the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing over the Republic of China (ROC) in Taipei as the only and authorized authorities of China. But Washington takes no place on Taiwan’s sovereignty, contending that its future ought to be decided by peaceable means.

This coverage is completely different to the PRC’s “One China principle”, beneath which Beijing insists that Taiwan is an inalienable a part of its territory.

For his half, Xi harassed that the “Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations”. Resolving this query is an inside Chinese matter and the US should not use Taiwan as a instrument to hunt benefits in competitors with China, he mentioned, in keeping with a readout of the meeting by the Chinese international ministry.

After the meeting ended, Biden informed reporters that Washington doesn’t consider there is a direct risk of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

“I absolutely believe there need not be a new Cold War,” Biden mentioned. “I’ve met many times with Xi Jinping. And we were candid and clear with one another across the board. And I do not think there’s any imminent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan.”

‘No zero-sum game’

Beyond Taiwan, ties between Beijing and Washington have soured over quite a few different factors of pressure in recent times, together with commerce points, human rights, claims to the South China Sea and an ongoing US effort to counter China’s rising affect within the Indo-Pacific.

The White House mentioned Biden raised considerations with Xi over China’s “practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly”. The US has accused China of finishing up genocide in opposition to its Muslim Uighur minority within the western area of Xinjiang — a cost that Beijing vehemently denies.

He additionally raised considerations about “China’s non-market practices” and mentioned it was a precedence for Washington to resolve the instances of American residents detained by Beijing.

“We’re going to compete vigorously, but I’m not looking for conflict,” Biden informed reporters on Monday. “I’m looking to manage this competition responsibly. And I want to make sure that every country abides by the international rules of the road.”

For his half, Xi mentioned he “looks forward to working with Biden to bring China-US relations back to the track of healthy and stable growth to the benefit of our two countries and the world as a whole”.

He mentioned that for the 2 international locations to get alongside, they have to recognise and respect one another’s variations, together with that “just as the United States has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style democracy”. Neither aspect ought to attempt to remould the opposite in a single’s picture or search to vary and even subvert the opposite’s system, he mentioned.

Xi went on to underscore that “competition should be about learning from each other to become one’s better self and make progress together, not about taking others down in a zero-sum game”.

“The Chinese nation has the proud tradition of standing up for itself. Suppression and containment will only strengthen the will and boost the morale of the Chinese people,” he was quoted as saying.

“Starting a trade war or a technology war, building walls and barriers, and pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains run counter to the principles of market economy and undermine international trade rules. Such attempts serve no one’s interests. We oppose politicising and weaponising economic and trade ties as well as exchanges in science and technology,” he added.

The discussions between Biden and Xi additionally touched on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The White House mentioned the 2 leaders “reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won”. They additionally “underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine”.

The Chinese readout mentioned Xi informed Biden that China was “highly concerned about the current situation in Ukraine”.

“China has all along stood on the side of peace and will continue to encourage peace talks. We support and look forward to a resumption of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, we hope that the United States, NATO and the EU will conduct comprehensive dialogues with Russia,” it mentioned.

Both sides mentioned the 2 leaders tasked their groups to take care of common contact to observe up on their discussions and resolve extra points. As a part of this effort, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will quickly journey to Beijing, the White House mentioned.

Andy Mok, senior analysis fellow on the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based assume tank, described Biden’s remarks as “moderate in tone and conciliatory”.

He added, nonetheless, that the priority is that US rhetoric could not match coverage, particularly round Taiwan — a problem that Xi is “adamant” about.

“But certainly it’s great that both sides are talking and there is going to be more follow-up,” Mok informed Al Jazeera.

Afghan particular forces troopers who fought alongside American troops after which fled to Iran after the United States’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan final yr are actually being recruited by the Russian army to battle in Ukraine, the Associated Press information company has reported.

Three former Afghan generals informed the AP the Russians wish to entice 1000’s of the previous elite Afghan commandos right into a “foreign legion” providing a gentle, $1,500-a-month wage and promising a protected haven for themselves and their households to allow them to keep away from deportation house to what many assume could be dying by the hands of the Taliban.

“They don’t want to go fight — but they have no choice,” mentioned one of many generals, Abdul Raof Arghandiwal, including that the dozen or so commandos in Iran with whom he has texted worry deportation most.

“They ask me, ‘Give me a solution? What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us.’”

Arghandiwal mentioned the recruiting is led by the Russian mercenary pressure Wagner Group.

Another basic, Hibatullah Alizai, the final Afghan military chief earlier than the Taliban took over, mentioned the trouble can also be being helped by a former Afghan particular forces commander who lived in Russia and speaks the language.

The Russian recruitment follows months of warnings from US troopers who fought with Afghan particular forces that the Taliban was intent on killing them and that they may be a part of with US enemies to remain alive or out of anger with their former ally.

A Republican Party congressional report in August particularly warned of the hazard that the Afghan commandos — skilled by US Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets — might find yourself giving details about US ways to the Islamic State group, Iran or Russia, or battle for them.

“We didn’t get these individuals out as we promised, and now it’s coming home to roost,” mentioned Michael Mulroy, a retired CIA officer who served in Afghanistan, including that the Afghan commandos are highly-skilled, fierce fighters. “I don’t want to see them in any battlefield, frankly, but certainly not fighting the Ukrainians.”

Mulroy was sceptical, nonetheless, that Russians would be capable to persuade many Afghan commandos to hitch them as a result of most he knew have been pushed by the will to make democracy work of their nation slightly than being weapons for rent.

The recruitment comes as Russian forces reel from Ukrainian army advances and Russian President Vladimir Putin pursues a sputtering mobilisation effort, which has prompted a whole bunch of 1000’s of Russian males to flee the nation to flee service.

Russia’s Defence Ministry didn’t reply to a request for remark.

A spokesperson for Yevgeny Prigozhin, who just lately acknowledged being the founding father of the Wagner Group, dismissed the concept of an ongoing effort to recruit former Afghan troopers as “crazy nonsense”.

The US Defense Department additionally didn’t reply to a request for remark, however a senior official advised the recruiting isn’t a surprise on condition that Wagner has been attempting to enroll troopers in a number of different nations.

It was unclear what number of Afghan particular forces members who fled to Iran have been courted by the Russians, however one informed the AP he’s speaking by the WhatsApp chat service with about 400 different commandos who’re contemplating gives.

He mentioned many like him worry deportation and are indignant on the US for abandoning them.

“We thought they might create a special programme for us, but no one even thought about us,” mentioned the previous commando, who requested anonymity as a result of he fears for himself and his household. “They just left us all in the hands of the Taliban.”

The commando mentioned his supply included Russian visas for himself in addition to his three youngsters and spouse who’re nonetheless in Afghanistan. Others have been supplied extensions of their visas in Iran. He mentioned he’s ready to see what others within the WhatsApp teams resolve however thinks many will take the deal.

US veterans who fought with Afghan particular forces have described to the AP almost a dozen instances, none confirmed independently, of the Taliban going home to deal with trying for commandos nonetheless within the nation, torturing or killing them, or doing the identical to relations if they’re nowhere to be discovered.

Human Rights Watch has mentioned greater than 100 former Afghan troopers, intelligence officers and police have been killed or forcibly “disappeared” simply three months after the Taliban took over regardless of guarantees of amnesty.

The United Nations, in a report in mid-October, documented 160 extrajudicial killings and 178 arrests of former authorities and army officers.

The brother of an Afghan commando in Iran who has accepted the Russian supply mentioned Taliban threats make it troublesome to refuse. He mentioned his brother needed to cover for three months after the autumn of Kabul, shuttling between kin’ homes whereas the Taliban searched his house.

“My brother had no other choice than accepting the offer,” mentioned the commando’s brother, Murad, who would solely give his first title due to worry the Taliban may observe him down. “This was not an easy decision for him.”

Former Afghan military chief Alizai mentioned a lot of the Russian recruiting effort is targeted on Tehran and Mashhad, a metropolis close to the Afghan border the place many have fled. The generals who spoke to the AP, together with a 3rd, Abdul Jabar Wafa, mentioned none of their contacts in Iran have been conscious of what number of had taken up the supply.

“You get military training in Russia for two months, and then you go to the battle lines,” learn one textual content message a former Afghan soldier in Iran despatched to Arghandiwal. “A number of personnel have gone, but they have lost contact with their families and friends altogether. The exact statistics are unclear.”

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Afghan particular forces fought with the Americans throughout the two-decade warfare, and just a few hundred senior officers have been airlifted out when the US army withdrew from Afghanistan.

Since most of the Afghan commandos didn’t work immediately for the US army, they weren’t eligible for particular US visas.

“They were the ones who fought to the really last minute. And they never, never, never talked to the Taliban. They never negotiated,” Alizai mentioned. “Leaving them behind is the biggest mistake.”