The Information Cartel and the Betrayal of Civil Society
A #TwitterFile of my own
Today I released a #TwitterFile thread detailing the great capture of civil society by government and BigTech, much of it achieved under the guise of combating ‘disinformation’ and other seemingly virtuous language.
Matt Taibbi’s
also released a longer form piece I wrote outlining the scope of this capture, and some recommendations to address it.
In addition, Matt has released an overview to a new Racket series on the Censorship-Industrial Complex that draws from the #TwitterFiles and beyond. There is much more to come.
When I signed up to join the Racket team on the #TwitterFiles I knew there was a big problem with the ‘anti-disinformation’ field - it turns out it is far worse than I imagined. Academics, journalists, intelligence operatives, military personnel, government bureaucrats, NGO workers and more have fused into a new information cartel, often operating in plain site within civil society.
Civil society provides enormous credibility and cover to this new censorship and information controls enterprise. It is beyond time to clean house.
With thanks to
and theteam.
Andrew, I just read your "An Insider's Guide to "Anti-Disinformation" version of this story and have this to add from my own research. Perhaps you'll be able to make actual the connection that I believe has a very high probability of existing.
In the trail you share the name Elliot Schrage appears in several communications. Schrage was Facebook's VP of Global Communications, Marketing and Public Policy, where he directed the company's government affairs and PR efforts. Then served as VP of Special Projects for Facebook. At the same time a former Obama administration official was serving as Facebook's Associate Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, Jessica Hertz.
Hertz had worked in the Obama administration as Counselor to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), then as Principle Counsel to VP Joe Biden.
She went from Facebook senior regulatory lawyer working with government policymakers and regulators (censorship orders, i.e. Twitter Files, Hunter's 'Laptop from Hell'?) in early September/October, 2020 to head up Biden's transition team, then as the new administration's staff selection oversight:
https://nypost.com/2020/10/01/joe-biden-hires-facebooks-jessica-hertz-for-transition-team/
Then Hertz became the Biden administration's Staff Secretary, arguably the most powerful role in an administration - a role once held by John Podesta in the Clinton administration:
https://www.vox.com/recode/22206646/joe-biden-jessica-hertz-facebook-staff-secretary-big-tech
Holding that position until the administration was up and running:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10086113/Bidens-staff-secretary-quits-Former-lawyer-Facebook-leave-White-House-coming-days.html
Later taking a cushy Big Tech gig again, now she working for Shopify as Counsel and on their DC lobbying team. And oh, Justice Sotomayer presided over her wedding:
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/ex-biden-facebook-attorney-joining-shopify-as-general-counsel-1
There is no way, No way on God's green earth, that Hertz and Schrage didn't know and work closely with one another. Not with those positions at Facebook. And not in her role on the Biden pre-election transition team at the same time that Facebook was squashing stories like the Laptop From Hell story at the direction of government and quasi-government censorship authorities. No. Stinking. Way.
This is strong evidence that Jessica Hertz is neck deep in this story, and her campaign/transition/administration role would've made her the conduit for official election interference for candidate, president-elect and president Biden. Among the many names redacted with @facebook email addresses there is no doubt in my mind that she is one of them. A smoking gun. Who needs to be investigated for her essential collaborative role. All of her communications while in government and into government when out of it need to be FOIA'd and reviewed. She's a keystone in unraveling these crimes against the American people.
There are many strands of a tangled web that connect her to many other important, powerful and well-placed officials who have served in outsized roles under both Obama and Biden, in the "Information Disorder" censorship and propaganda community that permeates Big Tech she works for when not inside government itself. More on that in comment thread below.
Thank you! On the way to read your longer piece! So glad to see another TF released!