After reading about the Pentagon’s Psyops, I am highly critical of the Pentagon’s use of Twitter to promote its message in the Middle East. This raises serious concerns about the potential collusion between the U.S. government and social media platforms, threatening the integrity of information disseminated through these channels. Was it just Twitter that engaged in these collisions? What about other tech giants like Facebook and Google?
The fact that Twitter granted the Pentagon’s accounts similar privileges to verified accounts is problematic and highlights the platform’s lack of transparency and accountability in dealing with government propaganda. While Twitter has taken some steps to address inauthentic activity, it is clear that these measures are insufficient to prevent government entities from utilizing the platform to spread their messages. Just because one is a government identity, this should not give one the right to have more dynamic privileges than the average user. And if these government workers do receive extra privileges, this information should be known.
Overall, this situation underscores the need for greater regulation of social media platforms and increased transparency in government communications. The public must be able to trust the information they receive, and social media companies must be held accountable for their role in disseminating false information. It is imperative that we remain watchful in identifying and combatting these threats to the integrity of our internet.