Has the Pentagon been caught using Twitter for pro-West disinformation?
- Facebook and Twitter have shut down dozens of fake accounts, suspecting they were created by the US military
- The Pentagon refuses to confirm or deny the US military was behind the accounts, but launches ‘review’
The US Department of Defence has launched a review of its psychological warfare operations after the discovery of fake accounts on social media promoting pro-West disinformation, an official confirmed.
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder confirmed the review after a Washington Post report said social media giants Facebook and Twitter had shut down a number of fake accounts suspecting they were created by the US military.
Ryder did not say confirm or deny that the military was behind fake accounts, and said the information still needed to be reviewed.
He cautioned against assuming that the Defence Department was behind the accounts, leaving it possible that another government agency was involved.
He said the review is “an opportunity for us to assess the current work that’s being done in this arena”.
The Washington Post noted a report last month by Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory on pro-Western covert influence operations.
