On August 21, Facebook issued a press release announcing the latest fruits of its partnership with NATO's quasi-official lobby in the United States–the Atlantic Council: "Today we removed multiple Pages, groups and accounts for coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram. Some of this activity originated in Iran, and some originated in Russia. These were distinct campaigns and we have not identified any link or coordination between them. However, they used similar tactics by creating networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing."
As noted in my last posting, Facebook has turned over its cyber security operations to the Atlantic Council US, to draw upon their "geopolitical expertise." Since that agreement was struck in May–aimed at getting Zuckerberg and Facebook off the hook for their total lack of security concerns for the personal data of their nearly one billion users–thousands of accounts have been shut down. These include many accounts that are critical of the Establishment's policies but have no foreign state connections whatsoever. How does NATO's lobby define "inauthentic behavior?" Is it "inauthentic" to be critical of the neocons and their drive for confrontation with Russia and regime change war with Iran? There is little or no transparency in these decisions.
Recall that Zuckerberg was hauled before the US Congress in April after it was revealed that Facebook released personal data on 87 million users to a British "academic" who was a shill for Cambridge Analytica, an outfit created by Steven Bannon with financing from the Mercer family. No Russian, Iranian or Chinese connections here. Facebook has been amassing personal data and commercializing it. Now, by playing into the anti-Russia, anti-Iran hysteria, Zuckerberg hopes to protect his business model. And the Atlantic Council is now swimming in Facebook cash, matching the money they receive from the British government.
Is there something wrong with this picture, or am I just being overly suspicious or even paranoid? If I had a Facebook account, I'd probably be shut down by now.
