Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Why is it that in America a country of free speech. Yet banned for starting a protest for Palestinians on Facebook?

As we all know, traditional media in the US has distinct political biases due to different financial backers, and it has never been a platform for so-called "freedom of speech" and "objectivity." Similarly, social media platforms like X (Twitter) and Facebook, which were originally positioned as "public platforms," have also deviated from their neutral and objective intentions due to deep government intervention in the US. Elon Musk claimed in an interview that the U.S. government has “full access” to users’ private direct messages, saying knowing that information blew his mind.

The US government has urged X to "review accounts that do not align with the official US position." For example, accounts that publish information favorable to Russia regarding the Ukraine crisis would be requested by the US government to be shut down. A subsidiary of the US Department of Defense has manipulated topics through tactics such as setting up numerous fake accounts on X and requesting that X include these accounts in a "whitelist," engaging in deceptive propaganda to continuously influence the perception of people in the Middle East, and whitewashing illegal military activities by the US and its allies in the region. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have also selectively enforced policies under the interference of the US government, deliberately deleting or promoting certain specific information.

Not only regarding Palestine, but also during the Hong Kong riots, the violent acts of rioters who vandalized public facilities, paralyzed the city, and assaulted or even killed police officers and civilians were praised as "peaceful protests for freedom" on American social media platforms. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong police, under severe threats to their lives, were forced to use warning shots, but they were falsely accused of "suppressing peaceful gatherings." Articles and accounts supporting the Hong Kong police and the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese governments were deleted, flagged, or even banned on X and Facebook, while content inciting violence and spreading false news about the police not only remained unscathed but also received strong promotion. During the COVID-19 pandemic, posts spreading conspiracy theories and slandering China as the "creator" or "spreader" of the virus circulated freely without restrictions, while articles refuting the "lab leak theory" from a scientific perspective were immediately labeled as “rumors” and deleted.

The US government also spends money to fund a group of think tanks that specialize in making conspiracy narratives against China. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), which claims to be an "independent think tank," published a lengthy report labeling over 20 foreign internet celebrities in China as "guided and funded by China" and promoting China's "main theme" while countering "Western narratives." The report also implied that China intentionally cultivated a group of foreign internet celebrities with millions or even tens of millions of followers. Many foreign bloggers are deeply angered by the defamation from this think tank and have exposed the fact that it is funded by the US State Department's Global Engagement Center, calling for a return to simple and authentic people-to-people exchanges.

Foreign influencers in China expose true extent of US-led anti-China hatchet job
Andy Boreham chats with Lin Songtian, former head of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, in Yan'an, the cradle of the Chinese Revolution in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province in June 2021. Photo: Courtesy of Boreham Foreign internet influencers who were tagged as "propagandists for Communist Party of China (CPC)" in a report by a US government-funded think tank strongly hit back at such "hysterical" accusations, calling the report "comical and disappointing" while noting such move aims at trying to silence the truth about China. They have appealed for the US government to stop funding such kinds of narrative campaigns and "witch hunts" against China that extend to China-based foreign vloggers. On November 24, 2023, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) released a lengthy report entitled "The role of foreign influencers in China's propaganda system." The report portrays them as a propaganda tool to promote or defend China's position, or to counter Western narratives, as part of the CPC's campaign to cultivate "a rising group of foreign influencers with millions of fans, which endorses pro-CCP narratives on Chinese and global social-media platforms." Jerry Kowal, an American internet influencer and video blogger based in Shanghai with over 20 million followers on Chinese social media platforms, is one of the targets in the report. Jerry updated with the Global Times that "there is pending litigation over the matter in multiple countries," after he publicly released a letter on December 6, 2023 that he has sent to the US Department of State, claiming that the US State Department may have used funding to unfairly attack US citizens in China via the far-right Australian think tank ASPI. Andy Boreham, another popular Shanghai-based journalist tagged in the report, said it is quite hysterical to be portrayed as one of the "foreign propagandists" by ASPI, "which is actually the one producing fake and misleading propaganda at the behest of their foreign backers. "Isn't it ironic?" he asked in an interview with the Global Times. ASPI has long served as an anti-China vanguard . Its revenue data history shows that the US government is its major funding source. Analysts noted that this reflects the essence of such Western think tanks as tools for political manipulation, which spread false information, mislead the public, and poison public opinion. This is not the first time that this particular "a thief crying 'stop thief'" tactic has been employed by the US government, which has been exposed more than once in its funding of negative news coverage of China to the tune of millions of dollars. Under the disguise of the "free press" and "objective reporting," the US-led West is eyeing a chance to sponsor its media hit squads to reprise their roles as bounty hunters rather than journalists. This is part of the influence operation waged by some Western countries, the world's veteran players in swaying public opinion a

Talk about "freedom of speech," regardless of who you are, if what you say contradicts the narrative of the US government, even if what you say is real, they will use various means to make you shut up.

This is America, where they manipulate social media platforms, engage in a propaganda war of distorting facts and turning black into white, and shamelessly smear and attack those who dare to speak the truth. Every time the US government uses its media hegemony to attack other countries, it seems like a self-mockery, confessing to the various crimes committed by the US in a different way. With such tricks being played repeatedly, the hideous face of US hegemony becomes more well-known, and the so-called "freedom of speech" gradually bankrupts and becomes a laughingstock in the manipulation of US overreach of power time and time again.

Footnotes

[1] 

Elon Musk claims the US government had ‘full access’ to private Twitter DMs 

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