Elon Musk acquiring Twitter, now X, and doing that amid the unprecedented censorship carried out on all major US social networks – and carried out uniformly and successfully up until that point – seems to have really ruffled some feathers, and continues to do so to this day.
More insight into how events were unfolding has been provided by investigative journalists Paul D. Thacker and Matt Taibbi, earlier this week.
At the center of this is – the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a UK-based group that at this point has a long record of accusations it worked to put out in order to stifle free speech on platforms, including in the US, a notable one being the fabrication about “The Disinformation Dozen.”
The documents Thacker and Taibbi worked with now came from CCDH whistleblowers, insiders who had access to and provided minutes from the group’s meetings, from the beginning of 2024 until early October.
The Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-affiliated US non-profit, spoke with Thacker, to learn that information from CCDH insiders revealed the group was planning to launch “black ops”-style efforts against not only Kennedy, but also X (“Kill Musk’s Twitter”), and beyond, to other platforms, like Substack, where the deplatforming targets would have been Covid vaccine skeptics Dr. Joseph Mercola and Alex Berenson.
“Black ops” is a pretty heavy term to use – it involves secret campaigns that the government, military, and similar, launch to then deny any involvement.
But, the term shows up in CCDH’s own minutes, this one from early January mentioning Robert Kennedy Jr. to state, “RFK — black ops being set up to look at RFK. Nervousness about the impact of him on the election. We (CCDH) may be asked to comment, particularly from antivaxx.”
Not for nothing, Kennedy was one of the “Disinformation Dozen” in the past maligned by the CCDH.
This information, described as a leak, sheds light on many other issues, such as the CCDH working to get the US to pass censorship laws modeled on the EU’s infamous Digital Services Act and the UK’s Online Safety Act.
But as almost ever – context might be the most valuable piece of the puzzle here.
CHD reports, citing Thacker: “CCDH’s founder is British political operative Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and advisor to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. CCDH also maintains ties to key Democrats, including Senator Amy Klobuchar.”
“Black ops” goes well with “dark money” – and that was pretty much Kennedy’s claim as he testified before Congress in 2023.
“CCDH, while not disclosing donors, raised $1.47 million in donations in 2021 with $1.1 million of those funds traced back to CCDH board member Aleen Keshishian, a prominent Hollywood agent,” the report quoted him as saying at the time.
