WEBVTT 00:00.030 --> 00:01.619 The defining fact of the United 00:01.620 --> 00:03.219 States is freedom of speech. 00:03.220 --> 00:04.709 To the extent this country is 00:04.710 --> 00:06.809 actually exceptional, it's because 00:06.810 --> 00:08.579 we have the First Amendment to the 00:08.580 --> 00:10.799 Bill of rights. We have freedom 00:10.800 --> 00:12.179 of conscience. We can say what we 00:12.180 --> 00:12.989 really think. 00:12.990 --> 00:14.909 There's no hate speech exception 00:14.910 --> 00:16.289 to that. Just because you hate what 00:16.290 --> 00:17.969 somebody else thinks, you cannot 00:17.970 --> 00:19.589 force that person to be quiet 00:19.590 --> 00:21.539 because we're citizens, not 00:21.540 --> 00:22.799 slaves. 00:22.800 --> 00:24.569 But that right, that foundational 00:24.570 --> 00:26.339 right that makes this country what 00:26.340 --> 00:27.989 it is, that right from which all 00:27.990 --> 00:29.909 other rights flow is going 00:29.910 --> 00:31.979 away at high speed 00:31.980 --> 00:33.719 in the face of censorship. 00:33.720 --> 00:35.219 Now, modern censorship bears no 00:35.220 --> 00:37.439 resemblance to previous censorship 00:37.440 --> 00:39.179 regimes in previous countries in 00:39.180 --> 00:40.529 previous eras. 00:40.530 --> 00:42.539 Our censorship is affected 00:42.540 --> 00:44.579 on the basis of fights against 00:44.580 --> 00:45.996 disinformation and malinformation. 00:47.100 --> 00:48.629 And the key thing to know about 00:48.630 --> 00:51.419 these is they're everywhere. 00:51.420 --> 00:52.420 And of course, they have 00:54.370 --> 00:56.199 no reference at all to whether 00:56.200 --> 00:57.699 what you're saying is true or not. 00:57.700 --> 00:59.169 In other words, you can say 00:59.170 --> 01:01.089 something that is factually accurate 01:01.090 --> 01:01.989 and consistent with your own 01:01.990 --> 01:03.939 conscience, and in 01:03.940 --> 01:05.499 previous versions of America, what 01:05.500 --> 01:06.699 an absolute right to say those 01:06.700 --> 01:07.509 things. 01:07.510 --> 01:08.949 But because someone doesn't like 01:08.950 --> 01:09.819 them, or because they're 01:09.820 --> 01:11.769 inconvenient to whatever plan 01:11.770 --> 01:13.569 the people in power have, they can 01:13.570 --> 01:16.359 be denounced as disinformation, 01:16.360 --> 01:17.379 and you could be stripped of your 01:17.380 --> 01:19.119 right to express them, either in 01:19.120 --> 01:20.299 person or online. 01:20.300 --> 01:22.059 In fact, expressing these things can 01:22.060 --> 01:24.399 become a criminal act and is. 01:24.400 --> 01:25.359 And it's important to know, by the 01:25.360 --> 01:26.439 way, that this is not just the 01:26.440 --> 01:28.239 private sector doing this. 01:28.240 --> 01:30.129 These efforts are being directed by 01:30.130 --> 01:32.229 the US government, which you pay for 01:32.230 --> 01:33.579 and at least theoretically own. 01:33.580 --> 01:35.499 It's your government, but 01:35.500 --> 01:37.389 they're stripping your rights at 01:37.390 --> 01:38.349 very high speed. 01:38.350 --> 01:39.639 Most people understand this 01:39.640 --> 01:41.499 intuitively, but they don't 01:41.500 --> 01:42.819 know how it happens. 01:42.820 --> 01:44.409 How does censorship happen? 01:44.410 --> 01:46.479 What are the mechanics of it? 01:46.480 --> 01:48.459 Mike Benz is, we can say with some 01:48.460 --> 01:50.649 confidence, the expert 01:50.650 --> 01:52.509 in the world on how this 01:52.510 --> 01:54.399 happens. Mike Benz had the 01:54.400 --> 01:55.989 cyber portfolio at the State 01:55.990 --> 01:57.309 Department. He's now executive 01:57.310 --> 01:59.109 director of Foundation for Freedom 01:59.110 --> 02:00.009 Online, and we're going to have a 02:00.010 --> 02:01.329 conversation with him about a very 02:01.330 --> 02:03.519 specific kind of censorship, 02:03.520 --> 02:04.389 by the way, we can't recommend 02:04.390 --> 02:05.409 strongly enough if you want to know 02:05.410 --> 02:07.239 how this happens Mike 02:07.240 --> 02:09.339 Benz BENZ 02:09.340 --> 02:11.439 is the man to read. 02:11.440 --> 02:12.549 But today we just want to talk about 02:12.550 --> 02:13.989 a specific kind of censorship and 02:13.990 --> 02:15.279 that censorship that emanates from 02:15.280 --> 02:17.349 the fabled military industrial 02:17.350 --> 02:19.599 complex, from our defense 02:19.600 --> 02:21.219 industry, and the foreign policy 02:21.220 --> 02:22.419 establishment in Washington. 02:22.420 --> 02:24.219 That's significant now because we're 02:24.220 --> 02:25.839 on the cusp of a global war. 02:25.840 --> 02:27.399 And so you can expect censorship to 02:27.400 --> 02:29.229 increase dramatically. 02:29.230 --> 02:31.329 And so with that, here is Mike Benz, 02:31.330 --> 02:32.919 executive director of Foundation for 02:32.920 --> 02:34.809 Freedom Online. Mike, thanks so much 02:34.810 --> 02:35.589 for joining us. 02:35.590 --> 02:37.089 And I just can't overstate your 02:37.090 --> 02:39.009 audience how exhaustive 02:39.010 --> 02:40.809 and comprehensive your knowledge is 02:40.810 --> 02:41.649 on this topic. 02:41.650 --> 02:42.579 It's almost it's almost 02:42.580 --> 02:44.019 unbelievable. 02:44.020 --> 02:45.549 And so if you could just walk us 02:45.550 --> 02:47.379 through how 02:47.380 --> 02:49.239 the foreign policy establishment 02:49.240 --> 02:51.129 and defense contractors and 02:51.130 --> 02:53.109 DoD and just the whole 02:53.110 --> 02:54.759 cluster, the constellation of 02:54.760 --> 02:56.439 defense related, publicly funded 02:56.440 --> 02:58.329 institutions strip from 02:58.330 --> 02:59.739 us our freedom of speech? 02:59.740 --> 03:01.479 Sure. You know, one of the easiest 03:01.480 --> 03:03.369 ways to actually start 03:03.370 --> 03:05.109 the story is really with the story 03:05.110 --> 03:07.149 of internet freedom and 03:07.150 --> 03:08.649 its switch from internet freedom to 03:08.650 --> 03:10.689 internet censorship, because free 03:10.690 --> 03:12.279 speech on the internet was an 03:12.280 --> 03:14.199 instrument of statecraft almost 03:14.200 --> 03:16.359 from the outset of the privatization 03:16.360 --> 03:19.059 of the internet in 1991. 03:19.060 --> 03:21.339 We quickly discovered, through 03:21.340 --> 03:23.409 the efforts of the 03:23.410 --> 03:24.759 Defense Department, the State 03:24.760 --> 03:25.929 Department in our intelligence 03:25.930 --> 03:28.119 services, that people were using 03:28.120 --> 03:30.519 the internet to congregate on blogs 03:30.520 --> 03:32.349 and forums, and free 03:32.350 --> 03:34.419 speech was championed 03:34.420 --> 03:36.699 more than anybody by the Pentagon, 03:36.700 --> 03:38.769 the State Department, and our 03:38.770 --> 03:40.719 sort of CIA cut out 03:40.720 --> 03:43.389 NGO blob architecture 03:43.390 --> 03:45.489 as a way to support dissident 03:45.490 --> 03:47.409 groups around the world in 03:47.410 --> 03:49.089 order to help them overthrow 03:49.090 --> 03:50.919 authoritarian governments, as they 03:50.920 --> 03:51.920 were sort of billed. Essentially the, internet 03:54.250 --> 03:56.399 free speech allowed kind of 03:56.400 --> 03:59.259 instant regime change operations, 03:59.260 --> 04:01.149 to be able to facilitate 04:01.150 --> 04:03.429 the foreign policy establishment's 04:03.430 --> 04:04.869 State Department agenda. 04:04.870 --> 04:06.519 Google is a great example of this. 04:06.520 --> 04:08.379 Google began as a DARPA 04:08.380 --> 04:10.269 grant, by 04:10.270 --> 04:12.219 Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they 04:12.220 --> 04:14.319 were Stanford PhDs. 04:14.320 --> 04:16.239 And they got 04:16.240 --> 04:17.979 their funding as part of a joint 04:17.980 --> 04:20.229 CIA, NSA program 04:20.230 --> 04:22.088 to chart how, quote, birds of a 04:22.089 --> 04:23.859 feather flock together online 04:23.860 --> 04:25.899 through search engine aggregation. 04:25.900 --> 04:27.849 And then one year later, they 04:27.850 --> 04:29.679 launched Google and then became 04:29.680 --> 04:31.329 a military contractor quickly 04:31.330 --> 04:33.309 thereafter. They got Google Maps by 04:33.310 --> 04:35.409 purchasing a CIA satellite software, 04:35.410 --> 04:37.449 essentially, and the 04:37.450 --> 04:39.459 ability to track to 04:39.460 --> 04:41.679 use free speech on the internet 04:41.680 --> 04:43.509 as a way to circumvent 04:43.510 --> 04:45.669 state control over media, 04:45.670 --> 04:47.799 over in places like Central 04:47.800 --> 04:49.659 Asia, or all around the 04:49.660 --> 04:51.759 world, was seen as a way 04:51.760 --> 04:53.889 to be able to do 04:53.890 --> 04:55.779 what used to be done out of CIA 04:55.780 --> 04:57.969 station houses or out of embassies 04:57.970 --> 05:00.459 or consulates in a way that 05:00.460 --> 05:02.949 was totally turbocharged. 05:02.950 --> 05:04.629 And all of the internet free speech 05:04.630 --> 05:06.489 technology was initially created 05:06.490 --> 05:08.739 by our national security state. 05:08.740 --> 05:10.569 VPNs, virtual private networks 05:10.570 --> 05:12.519 to hide your IP address. 05:12.520 --> 05:14.499 Tour the dark web, to be able to buy 05:14.500 --> 05:17.259 and sell goods anonymously 05:17.260 --> 05:18.579 and to end encrypted chats. 05:18.580 --> 05:20.409 All these things were created 05:20.410 --> 05:22.359 initially as DARPA projects 05:22.360 --> 05:24.699 or as joint CIA NSA projects, 05:24.700 --> 05:26.979 to be able to help intelligence 05:26.980 --> 05:29.289 backed groups to 05:29.290 --> 05:30.879 overthrow governments that were 05:30.880 --> 05:32.919 causing a problem, to 05:32.920 --> 05:34.149 the Clinton administration or the 05:34.150 --> 05:35.379 Bush administration or the Obama 05:35.380 --> 05:36.339 administration. 05:36.340 --> 05:38.199 And this plan worked magically 05:38.200 --> 05:40.179 from about 1991 until 05:40.180 --> 05:42.369 about 2014, 05:42.370 --> 05:44.469 when there began to be an about 05:44.470 --> 05:46.389 face on internet freedom 05:46.390 --> 05:47.169 and its utility. 05:47.170 --> 05:48.489 Now, the high watermark of the sort 05:48.490 --> 05:49.899 of internet free speech moment was 05:49.900 --> 05:52.059 the Arab Spring in 2011, 05:52.060 --> 05:54.189 2012, when you had this 05:54.190 --> 05:55.209 one by one. 05:55.210 --> 05:57.069 All of the adversary governments 05:57.070 --> 05:59.319 of the Obama administration, Egypt, 05:59.320 --> 06:01.179 Tunisia, all began to be toppled 06:01.180 --> 06:02.949 in Facebook revolutions and Twitter 06:02.950 --> 06:04.089 revolutions. 06:04.090 --> 06:05.649 And you had the State Department 06:05.650 --> 06:07.659 working very closely with the social 06:07.660 --> 06:09.759 media companies to be able to 06:09.760 --> 06:12.579 keep social media online during 06:12.580 --> 06:13.809 those periods. There was a famous 06:13.810 --> 06:15.909 phone call from Google's Jared Cohen 06:15.910 --> 06:17.829 to Twitter to not 06:17.830 --> 06:19.119 do their scheduled maintenance so 06:19.120 --> 06:21.339 that, the 06:21.340 --> 06:23.049 preferred opposition group in Iran 06:23.050 --> 06:24.924 would be able to use Twitter, to 06:25.990 --> 06:26.769 win that election. 06:26.770 --> 06:28.359 So it was, free speech was an 06:28.360 --> 06:29.739 instrument of statecraft from the 06:29.740 --> 06:31.599 national security state to begin 06:31.600 --> 06:33.339 with. All of that architecture, all 06:33.340 --> 06:35.409 the NGOs, the relationships between 06:35.410 --> 06:36.759 the tech companies and the national 06:36.760 --> 06:38.139 security state had been long 06:38.140 --> 06:40.239 established for freedom. 06:40.240 --> 06:42.369 In 2014, after 06:42.370 --> 06:44.199 the coup in Ukraine, 06:44.200 --> 06:46.119 there was an unexpected counter 06:46.120 --> 06:47.979 coup where Crimea and the 06:47.980 --> 06:49.839 Donbas broke away and 06:49.840 --> 06:51.249 they broke away with essentially a 06:51.250 --> 06:53.079 military backstop that NATO was 06:53.080 --> 06:55.179 highly unprepared for at the time. 06:55.180 --> 06:57.039 They had one last Hail Mary 06:57.040 --> 06:58.629 chance, which was the Crimea 06:58.630 --> 07:00.639 annexation vote on, 07:00.640 --> 07:03.099 in 2014. 07:03.100 --> 07:04.899 And when the hearts and minds of the 07:04.900 --> 07:07.599 people of Crimea voted, 07:07.600 --> 07:09.759 to join the Russian Federation, 07:09.760 --> 07:12.159 that was the last straw for 07:12.160 --> 07:13.869 the concept of free speech on the 07:13.870 --> 07:15.699 internet in the eyes of NATO as 07:15.700 --> 07:17.529 they saw it, the fundamental nature 07:17.530 --> 07:19.179 of war changed at that moment. 07:19.180 --> 07:21.189 And NATO at that point 07:21.190 --> 07:22.479 declared something that they first 07:22.480 --> 07:24.159 called the Gerasimov doctrine, which 07:24.160 --> 07:25.089 is named after this Russian 07:25.090 --> 07:27.279 military, a general, 07:27.280 --> 07:29.079 who they claimed made a speech that 07:29.080 --> 07:30.639 the fundamental nature of war has 07:30.640 --> 07:32.169 changed. You don't need to win 07:32.170 --> 07:34.269 military skirmishes to take over 07:34.270 --> 07:35.649 Central and Eastern Europe. 07:35.650 --> 07:37.329 All you need to do is control the 07:37.330 --> 07:38.799 media and the social media 07:38.800 --> 07:40.599 ecosystem, because that's what 07:40.600 --> 07:41.769 controls elections. 07:41.770 --> 07:43.269 And if you simply get the right 07:43.270 --> 07:44.949 administration into power, they 07:44.950 --> 07:46.119 control the military. 07:46.120 --> 07:47.739 So it's infinitely cheaper than 07:47.740 --> 07:49.389 conducting a military war to simply 07:49.390 --> 07:51.669 conduct an organized political, 07:51.670 --> 07:53.649 influence operation over social 07:53.650 --> 07:54.429 media. 07:54.430 --> 07:56.499 And legacy media and industry 07:56.500 --> 07:58.149 had been created that spanned the 07:58.150 --> 08:00.249 Pentagon, the the British 08:00.250 --> 08:02.409 Ministry of Defense in Brussels 08:02.410 --> 08:04.299 into a organized 08:04.300 --> 08:06.219 political warfare outfit, 08:06.220 --> 08:07.899 essentially infrastructure that was 08:07.900 --> 08:10.119 created, initially stationed 08:10.120 --> 08:11.649 in Germany and in Central and 08:11.650 --> 08:13.299 Eastern Europe to create 08:13.300 --> 08:14.919 psychological buffer zones, 08:14.920 --> 08:16.509 basically to create the ability to 08:16.510 --> 08:18.369 to have the military work with 08:18.370 --> 08:20.109 the social media companies, to 08:20.110 --> 08:22.329 censor Russian propaganda, 08:22.330 --> 08:24.429 or to censor domestic 08:24.430 --> 08:26.589 right wing populist groups 08:26.590 --> 08:28.269 in Europe who were rising in 08:28.270 --> 08:29.709 political power at the time because 08:29.710 --> 08:30.939 of the migrant crisis. 08:30.940 --> 08:33.038 So you had the systematic targeting 08:33.039 --> 08:35.349 by our State Department, by our ISI, 08:35.350 --> 08:37.178 by the Pentagon, of groups 08:37.179 --> 08:39.009 like Germany's AfD, the 08:39.010 --> 08:40.479 alternative for Deutschland there, 08:40.480 --> 08:42.369 and for groups in Estonia, Latvia, 08:42.370 --> 08:43.449 Lithuania. 08:43.450 --> 08:45.279 Now, when Brexit happened in 08:45.280 --> 08:47.709 2016, it was 08:47.710 --> 08:49.749 that was that was this crisis moment 08:49.750 --> 08:51.639 where suddenly they 08:51.640 --> 08:52.689 didn't have to worry just about 08:52.690 --> 08:53.859 Central and Eastern Europe anymore. 08:53.860 --> 08:56.199 It was coming westward, this idea of 08:56.200 --> 08:58.059 Russian control over hearts and 08:58.060 --> 08:58.959 minds. 08:58.960 --> 09:00.819 And so that was 09:00.820 --> 09:02.379 Brexit was June 2016. 09:02.380 --> 09:04.449 The very next month at the Warsaw 09:04.450 --> 09:06.789 Conference, NATO formally 09:06.790 --> 09:07.974 amended its charter 09:09.100 --> 09:11.079 to expressly commit 09:11.080 --> 09:12.999 to hybrid warfare as 09:13.000 --> 09:15.189 there as this new NATO capacity. 09:15.190 --> 09:16.869 So they went from, you know, 09:16.870 --> 09:19.569 basically 70 years 09:19.570 --> 09:21.519 of tanks to this explicit 09:21.520 --> 09:23.349 capacity building for 09:23.350 --> 09:24.939 censoring tweets if they were deemed 09:24.940 --> 09:27.279 to be Russian proxies. 09:27.280 --> 09:28.389 And again, it's not just Russian 09:28.390 --> 09:29.229 propaganda. 09:29.230 --> 09:30.879 This was these were now Brexit 09:30.880 --> 09:32.799 groups or groups like Matteo 09:32.800 --> 09:35.079 Salvini in Italy, 09:35.080 --> 09:37.089 or in Greece or in Germany 09:37.090 --> 09:39.249 or in Spain with the Vox party. 09:39.250 --> 09:40.809 And now at the time, NATO was 09:40.810 --> 09:42.969 publishing white papers saying 09:42.970 --> 09:44.559 that the biggest threat NATO faces 09:44.560 --> 09:46.239 is not actually a military invasion 09:46.240 --> 09:47.019 from Russia. 09:47.020 --> 09:49.359 It's losing domestic elections 09:49.360 --> 09:51.249 across Europe in 09:51.250 --> 09:52.929 two. All these right wing populist 09:52.930 --> 09:54.339 groups who, because they were mostly 09:54.340 --> 09:56.079 working class movements, were 09:56.080 --> 09:58.149 campaigning on cheap Russian 09:58.150 --> 09:59.889 energy at a time when the U.S. 09:59.890 --> 10:01.419 was pressuring this energy 10:01.420 --> 10:03.069 diversification policy. 10:03.070 --> 10:04.959 And so they made the argument 10:04.960 --> 10:06.039 after Brexit. 10:06.040 --> 10:07.359 Now the entire rules based 10:07.360 --> 10:08.889 international order would collapse 10:08.890 --> 10:10.329 unless the military took control 10:10.330 --> 10:12.039 over media, because Brexit would 10:12.040 --> 10:13.389 give rise to "Frexit" in France, 10:13.390 --> 10:15.309 with Marine Le Pen to "Spexit" in in 10:15.310 --> 10:17.369 Spain with a Vox party to "Italexit" 10:17.370 --> 10:19.239 in Italy, to "Grexit" 10:19.240 --> 10:21.309 in Germany, to "Grexit" in Greece, 10:21.310 --> 10:23.559 the EU would come apart, so NATO 10:23.560 --> 10:25.329 would be killed without a single 10:25.330 --> 10:27.369 bullet being, being 10:27.370 --> 10:28.149 fired. 10:28.150 --> 10:29.679 And then not only that, now that 10:29.680 --> 10:31.239 NATO is gone, now there's no 10:31.240 --> 10:32.769 enforcement arm for the 10:32.770 --> 10:34.629 International Monetary Fund, the IMF 10:34.630 --> 10:35.499 or the world Bank. 10:35.500 --> 10:37.239 So now the financial stakeholders 10:37.240 --> 10:38.799 who depend on the battering ram of 10:38.800 --> 10:40.509 the national security state would 10:40.510 --> 10:41.949 basically be helpless against 10:41.950 --> 10:43.209 governments around the world. 10:43.210 --> 10:45.159 So from their perspective, 10:45.160 --> 10:46.869 if the military did not begin to 10:46.870 --> 10:48.909 censor the internet, every 10:48.910 --> 10:51.159 all of the democratic institutions 10:51.160 --> 10:52.929 and infrastructure that gave rise to 10:52.930 --> 10:54.749 the. World after World War Two would 10:54.750 --> 10:56.419 collapse. So you can imagine that 10:56.420 --> 10:56.759 we. 10:56.760 --> 10:57.629 May I ask. 10:57.630 --> 10:59.549 Later. Donald Trump won the 2016 10:59.550 --> 11:00.149 election. 11:00.150 --> 11:01.499 So you well, you just told a 11:01.500 --> 11:02.639 remarkable story that I've never 11:02.640 --> 11:04.649 heard anybody explain as 11:04.650 --> 11:06.899 lucidly and crisply as you just did. 11:06.900 --> 11:08.879 But did anyone at NATO or anyone 11:08.880 --> 11:10.739 at the State Department pause 11:10.740 --> 11:12.089 room and say, wait a second, we've 11:12.090 --> 11:14.789 just identified our new enemy 11:14.790 --> 11:16.199 as democracy within our own 11:16.200 --> 11:17.279 countries. I think that's what 11:17.280 --> 11:19.139 you're saying. They feared 11:19.140 --> 11:20.519 that the people, the citizens of 11:20.520 --> 11:21.599 their own countries would get their 11:21.600 --> 11:23.549 way, and they went to war 11:23.550 --> 11:24.389 against that. 11:24.390 --> 11:25.199 Yes. 11:25.200 --> 11:26.669 Now, you know, there's a rich 11:26.670 --> 11:28.229 history of this dating back to the 11:28.230 --> 11:29.729 Cold War. You know, the Cold War in 11:29.730 --> 11:31.949 Europe was essentially a 11:31.950 --> 11:33.779 similar, a similar struggle 11:33.780 --> 11:35.279 for hearts and minds of people, 11:35.280 --> 11:36.629 especially in Central and Eastern 11:36.630 --> 11:37.739 Europe. 11:37.740 --> 11:39.269 You know, in these sort of, you 11:39.270 --> 11:40.829 know, Soviet buffer zones. 11:40.830 --> 11:42.659 And, you know, starting in 11:42.660 --> 11:44.549 1948, the national security 11:44.550 --> 11:45.889 state was really established. 11:45.890 --> 11:48.059 Then, you know, you had the 1947 11:48.060 --> 11:49.349 act, which established the Central 11:49.350 --> 11:50.789 Intelligence Agency. 11:50.790 --> 11:52.619 You had, you know, 11:52.620 --> 11:54.449 this new world order that had been 11:54.450 --> 11:55.889 created with all these international 11:55.890 --> 11:57.059 institutions. 11:57.060 --> 11:58.919 And you had the 1948 11:58.920 --> 12:00.419 U.N. Declaration on Human Rights, 12:00.420 --> 12:02.129 which forbid the territorial 12:02.130 --> 12:04.619 acquisition by military force. 12:04.620 --> 12:06.179 So you can no longer run a 12:06.180 --> 12:08.039 traditional military 12:08.040 --> 12:09.989 occupation government 12:09.990 --> 12:11.699 in the way that we could. 12:11.700 --> 12:13.589 In 1898, for example, when we took 12:13.590 --> 12:15.419 the Philippines, everything had 12:15.420 --> 12:16.919 to be done through a sort of 12:16.920 --> 12:19.289 political legitimization process, 12:19.290 --> 12:21.029 whereby there's some ratification 12:21.030 --> 12:22.799 from the hearts and minds of people 12:22.800 --> 12:24.719 within the country. 12:24.720 --> 12:26.549 Now, often that involves simply 12:26.550 --> 12:28.559 puppet politicians who are groomed 12:28.560 --> 12:29.939 as emerging leaders by our State 12:29.940 --> 12:31.529 Department. But the battle for 12:31.530 --> 12:33.419 hearts and minds had been something 12:33.420 --> 12:35.279 that we had been 12:35.280 --> 12:37.739 giving ourselves a long moral 12:37.740 --> 12:40.049 license. Leash, if you will. 12:40.050 --> 12:42.269 Since 1948, one of the godfathers 12:42.270 --> 12:44.459 of the CIA, George Kennan, at, 12:44.460 --> 12:46.349 12 days after we rigged the Italian 12:46.350 --> 12:48.329 election in 1948 by 12:48.330 --> 12:50.189 stuffing ballot boxes and working 12:50.190 --> 12:52.379 with the mob, we published a memo 12:52.380 --> 12:53.999 called The Inauguration of Organized 12:54.000 --> 12:55.769 Political Warfare, where he said, 12:55.770 --> 12:57.869 listen, it's a mean old world 12:57.870 --> 12:59.849 out there. We at the CIA just rigged 12:59.850 --> 13:00.749 the Italian election. 13:00.750 --> 13:02.129 We had to do it because if the 13:02.130 --> 13:03.629 communists won, maybe there'll never 13:03.630 --> 13:05.249 be another election in Italy again. 13:05.250 --> 13:06.239 So. 13:06.240 --> 13:08.579 But it's really effective, guys, 13:08.580 --> 13:10.499 we need a department of dirty tricks 13:10.500 --> 13:11.639 to be able to do this around the 13:11.640 --> 13:13.559 world. And it's essentially a new 13:13.560 --> 13:15.869 social contract we're constructing 13:15.870 --> 13:16.829 with the American people. 13:16.830 --> 13:18.119 Because this is not the way we've 13:18.120 --> 13:20.069 conducted diplomacy before, but we 13:20.070 --> 13:21.599 are now forbidden from using the War 13:21.600 --> 13:23.249 Department. In 1948, they also 13:23.250 --> 13:24.449 renamed the War Department to the 13:24.450 --> 13:25.559 Defense Department. 13:25.560 --> 13:27.179 So, again, as part of this, this 13:27.180 --> 13:29.579 diplomatic onslaught for political 13:29.580 --> 13:31.589 control, rather than looking like 13:31.590 --> 13:33.389 it's overt military control, but 13:33.390 --> 13:34.799 essentially what ends up happening 13:34.800 --> 13:36.749 there is we created this 13:36.750 --> 13:38.309 foreign domestic firewall. 13:38.310 --> 13:40.169 We said that we have a department of 13:40.170 --> 13:41.219 dirty tricks to be able to rig 13:41.220 --> 13:42.599 elections, to be able to control 13:42.600 --> 13:44.969 media, to be able to 13:44.970 --> 13:46.559 meddle in the internal affairs of 13:46.560 --> 13:48.389 every other plant of dirt in 13:48.390 --> 13:50.339 the country. But this sort of sacred 13:50.340 --> 13:52.199 dirt on which the American homeland 13:52.200 --> 13:54.029 sits will, 13:54.030 --> 13:55.979 they are not allowed to operate 13:55.980 --> 13:57.299 there. The State Department, the 13:57.300 --> 13:58.919 Defense Department and the CIA are 13:58.920 --> 14:00.749 all expressly forbidden from 14:00.750 --> 14:01.989 operating on US soil. 14:01.990 --> 14:03.749 Of course, this is so far from the 14:03.750 --> 14:05.099 case, it's not even funny. 14:05.100 --> 14:07.079 But, but that's because of a number 14:07.080 --> 14:08.189 of laundering tricks that they've 14:08.190 --> 14:09.809 developed over 70 years of doing 14:09.810 --> 14:11.759 this. But essentially, there was 14:11.760 --> 14:14.129 no moral quandary at first 14:14.130 --> 14:16.139 with respect to the creation 14:16.140 --> 14:17.969 of the censorship industry when 14:17.970 --> 14:19.798 it started out in Germany and 14:20.850 --> 14:23.129 in Lithuania and Latvia and Estonia 14:23.130 --> 14:25.259 and in Sweden and Finland, 14:25.260 --> 14:27.659 there began to be a more 14:27.660 --> 14:29.579 diplomatic debate about it after 14:29.580 --> 14:30.539 Brexit. 14:30.540 --> 14:32.519 And then, it was 14:32.520 --> 14:34.219 it became. 14:34.220 --> 14:36.199 Full throttle when Trump was elected 14:36.200 --> 14:38.359 and what little resistance there 14:38.360 --> 14:39.199 was. 14:39.200 --> 14:41.569 Was washed over by the rise 14:41.570 --> 14:43.639 and saturation of Russiagate, 14:43.640 --> 14:45.439 which basically allowed them to not 14:45.440 --> 14:47.299 have to deal with the moral 14:47.300 --> 14:49.519 ambiguities of censoring 14:49.520 --> 14:50.749 your own people. 14:50.750 --> 14:52.399 Because if Trump was a Russian 14:52.400 --> 14:54.079 asset, you no longer really had a 14:54.080 --> 14:55.429 traditional free speech issue. 14:55.430 --> 14:57.109 It was a national security issue. 14:57.110 --> 14:59.299 It was only after Russiagate died 14:59.300 --> 15:01.399 in July 2019, 15:01.400 --> 15:03.439 when Robert Mueller basically choked 15:03.440 --> 15:05.179 on the stand for three hours and 15:05.180 --> 15:06.799 revealed he had absolutely nothing. 15:06.800 --> 15:08.119 After two and a half years of 15:08.120 --> 15:10.129 investigation that the foreign 15:10.130 --> 15:12.229 to domestic switcheroo took place, 15:12.230 --> 15:13.729 where they took all of this 15:13.730 --> 15:16.069 censorship architecture spanning 15:16.070 --> 15:18.049 DHS, the FBI, 15:18.050 --> 15:20.179 the CIA, the DOD, 15:20.180 --> 15:22.489 the DOJ, and then the thousands 15:22.490 --> 15:24.709 of government funded NGO 15:24.710 --> 15:26.749 and private sector mercenary firms 15:26.750 --> 15:29.149 were all basically transmitted 15:29.150 --> 15:30.979 from a foreign folk, from a foreign 15:30.980 --> 15:32.809 predicate, a Russian disinformation 15:32.810 --> 15:34.639 predicate to a democracy 15:34.640 --> 15:36.109 predicate, by saying that 15:36.110 --> 15:37.999 disinformation is not just a threat 15:38.000 --> 15:39.409 when it comes from the Russians, 15:39.410 --> 15:40.849 it's actually an intrinsic threat to 15:40.850 --> 15:42.259 democracy itself. 15:42.260 --> 15:43.909 And so by that, they were able to 15:43.910 --> 15:45.709 launder the entire democracy 15:45.710 --> 15:48.529 promotion regime change toolkit, 15:48.530 --> 15:50.809 just in time for the 2020 election. 15:50.810 --> 15:52.969 It I mean, it's almost 15:52.970 --> 15:54.439 beyond belief this has happened. 15:54.440 --> 15:56.059 I mean, my own father worked for the 15:56.060 --> 15:57.769 U.S. government in this business in 15:57.770 --> 15:58.999 the information war against the 15:59.000 --> 15:59.899 Soviet Union. 15:59.900 --> 16:01.759 And, you know, was a big 16:01.760 --> 16:03.739 part of that. And the idea that 16:03.740 --> 16:05.809 any of those tools 16:05.810 --> 16:07.152 would be turned against 16:08.380 --> 16:10.299 American citizens by 16:10.300 --> 16:12.429 the U.S. government was, I think 16:12.430 --> 16:14.019 I want to think was absolutely 16:14.020 --> 16:16.709 unthinkable and say, 1988. 16:16.710 --> 16:18.569 And you're saying that it's there 16:18.570 --> 16:20.159 really hasn't been anyone who's 16:20.160 --> 16:21.059 raised objections. 16:21.060 --> 16:22.409 And it's just it's absolutely turned 16:22.410 --> 16:24.179 inward to manipulate and rig our own 16:24.180 --> 16:25.349 elections, as we would in say, 16:25.350 --> 16:25.859 Latvia. 16:25.860 --> 16:27.959 Yeah. Well, as soon as the democracy 16:27.960 --> 16:29.789 predicate was established, you 16:29.790 --> 16:31.739 had this professional class of 16:31.740 --> 16:33.749 professional regime change artists 16:33.750 --> 16:34.829 and operatives. 16:34.830 --> 16:36.809 That is the same people who argued 16:36.810 --> 16:37.919 that, you know, we need to bring 16:37.920 --> 16:39.719 democracy to Yugoslavia. 16:39.720 --> 16:40.799 You. And that's the predicate for 16:40.800 --> 16:42.719 getting rid of, you know, Milosevic 16:42.720 --> 16:44.549 or any other country around 16:44.550 --> 16:46.289 the world where we basically 16:46.290 --> 16:47.909 overthrow governments in order to 16:47.910 --> 16:49.229 preserve democracy. 16:49.230 --> 16:51.689 Well, if the democracy 16:51.690 --> 16:53.789 threat is homegrown now, then 16:53.790 --> 16:55.619 that becomes, you know, then 16:55.620 --> 16:57.509 suddenly these people 16:57.510 --> 16:59.849 all have new jobs moving 16:59.850 --> 17:01.289 on the US side, and they can go 17:01.290 --> 17:02.549 through a million examples of that. 17:02.550 --> 17:04.499 But one thing on what 17:04.500 --> 17:06.989 you just mentioned, which is that, 17:06.990 --> 17:07.990 you know from 17:09.270 --> 17:11.159 their perspective, they just 17:11.160 --> 17:12.809 weren't ready for the internet. 17:12.810 --> 17:14.729 2016 was really the 17:14.730 --> 17:17.039 first time that social 17:17.040 --> 17:19.439 media had reached such maturity 17:19.440 --> 17:21.689 that it began to eclipse legacy 17:21.690 --> 17:23.338 media. I mean, this was a long time 17:23.339 --> 17:25.348 coming. I think folks saw this 17:25.349 --> 17:27.629 building from 2006 17:27.630 --> 17:29.039 through 2016. 17:29.040 --> 17:30.959 You know, internet 1.0 didn't even 17:30.960 --> 17:31.889 have social media. 17:31.890 --> 17:33.709 From 1991 to 17:33.710 --> 17:35.699 2004, there was no social media 17:35.700 --> 17:37.979 at all. 2004 Facebook came out 17:37.980 --> 17:40.079 2005, Twitter, 2006 17:40.080 --> 17:42.299 YouTube, 2007 the smartphone 17:42.300 --> 17:43.259 and so. 17:43.260 --> 17:45.029 And in that initial period of social 17:45.030 --> 17:46.859 media, nobody was getting 17:46.860 --> 17:48.719 subscriber shifts at the level 17:48.720 --> 17:50.939 where they actually competed with 17:50.940 --> 17:52.739 legacy news media. 17:52.740 --> 17:54.869 But over the course of being, 17:54.870 --> 17:56.489 you know, so initially, even these 17:56.490 --> 17:59.339 dissident voices within the US, 17:59.340 --> 18:01.049 even though they, they may have been 18:01.050 --> 18:03.179 loud, in moments, they 18:03.180 --> 18:05.099 never reached 30 18:05.100 --> 18:06.959 million followers, they never 18:06.960 --> 18:08.859 reached, you know, a 18:08.860 --> 18:10.499 billion impressions a year type 18:10.500 --> 18:12.749 thing as a uncensored, 18:12.750 --> 18:14.819 mature ecosystem 18:14.820 --> 18:16.709 allowed citizen journalists and 18:16.710 --> 18:18.839 independent voices to be able to 18:18.840 --> 18:20.849 outcompete legacy news 18:20.850 --> 18:21.719 media. 18:21.720 --> 18:24.119 This induced a massive crisis 18:24.120 --> 18:25.829 both in our military and in our 18:25.830 --> 18:27.209 State Department and intelligence 18:27.210 --> 18:28.469 services. And I give you a great 18:28.470 --> 18:29.579 example of this. 18:29.580 --> 18:31.859 In 2019, at a 18:31.860 --> 18:33.749 meeting of the German Marshall 18:33.750 --> 18:35.009 Fund, which is, you know, an 18:35.010 --> 18:36.959 institution that goes back to 18:36.960 --> 18:39.330 the US, basically, 18:40.590 --> 18:41.909 and I'm don't want to say bribe, but 18:41.910 --> 18:43.319 the essentially the soft power 18:43.320 --> 18:45.329 economic soft power projection in 18:45.330 --> 18:47.459 Europe as part of the reconstruction 18:47.460 --> 18:49.169 of European governments after World 18:49.170 --> 18:51.059 War 2, to be able to essentially 18:51.060 --> 18:53.159 pay them, with Marshall 18:53.160 --> 18:53.969 Fund dollars. 18:53.970 --> 18:56.099 And then in return, they basically 18:56.100 --> 18:57.749 were under our thumb in terms of how 18:57.750 --> 18:59.699 they reconstructed. 18:59.700 --> 19:01.589 But the German Marshall Fund held 19:01.590 --> 19:02.789 the meeting in 2019. 19:02.790 --> 19:04.019 They held a million of these, 19:04.020 --> 19:05.344 frankly, but where they, where 19:06.480 --> 19:08.639 a four star general, 19:08.640 --> 19:10.529 got up on the panel and 19:10.530 --> 19:12.239 said that that 19:13.380 --> 19:15.449 the what happens, he posed 19:15.450 --> 19:17.669 the question, what happens 19:17.670 --> 19:19.979 to the to the US military? 19:19.980 --> 19:20.969 What happens to the national 19:20.970 --> 19:22.709 security state when the New York 19:22.710 --> 19:24.839 Times is reduced to a medium sized 19:24.840 --> 19:26.339 Facebook page? 19:26.340 --> 19:28.499 And he posed this thought experiment 19:28.500 --> 19:29.740 as an example of 19:30.990 --> 19:33.029 we've had these gatekeepers, 19:33.030 --> 19:34.889 we've had these bumper cars on 19:34.890 --> 19:36.749 democracy in the form 19:36.750 --> 19:38.789 of a 19:38.790 --> 19:40.679 century old relationship 19:40.680 --> 19:42.359 with legacy media institutions. 19:42.360 --> 19:44.219 I mean, our mainstream media 19:44.220 --> 19:46.199 is not in any shape or form, 19:46.200 --> 19:48.179 even from its outset, independent 19:48.180 --> 19:49.619 from the national security state, 19:49.620 --> 19:50.909 from the State Department, from the 19:50.910 --> 19:52.199 War Department. 19:52.200 --> 19:54.209 You know, you had the initial, 19:54.210 --> 19:56.669 all of the initial, broadcast 19:56.670 --> 19:58.679 news companies NBC, ABC and 19:58.680 --> 20:00.659 CBS were all created 20:00.660 --> 20:01.979 by Office of War Information 20:01.980 --> 20:03.509 veterans from the from the War 20:03.510 --> 20:04.829 Department's effort in World War II. 20:04.830 --> 20:06.689 You had these 20:06.690 --> 20:08.459 operation mockingbird relationships 20:08.460 --> 20:10.769 from the 1950s through the 1970s. 20:10.770 --> 20:13.259 Those continued it through the 20:13.260 --> 20:14.549 use of the National Endowment for 20:14.550 --> 20:17.129 democracy and the privatization 20:17.130 --> 20:18.629 of intelligence capacities in the 20:18.630 --> 20:20.699 1980s under Reagan. 20:20.700 --> 20:22.649 There's all sorts of CIA 20:22.650 --> 20:23.909 reading room memos you can read, 20:23.910 --> 20:25.499 even on CIA.gov about those 20:25.500 --> 20:27.359 continued media relations throughout 20:27.360 --> 20:28.649 the 1990s. 20:28.650 --> 20:31.109 And so you always had this backdoor 20:31.110 --> 20:32.459 relationship between The Washington 20:32.460 --> 20:34.349 Post, The New York Times, and 20:34.350 --> 20:36.359 all of the major broadcast media 20:36.360 --> 20:37.409 corporations. 20:37.410 --> 20:38.999 By the way, you know, Rupert Murdoch 20:39.000 --> 20:40.709 and Fox are part of this as well. 20:40.710 --> 20:41.759 You know, Rupert Murdoch was 20:41.760 --> 20:42.929 actually part of the National 20:42.930 --> 20:45.449 Endowment for democracy coalition 20:45.450 --> 20:47.309 in 1983 when it was formed as 20:47.310 --> 20:49.589 a way to do CIA 20:49.590 --> 20:51.389 operations in an above board way 20:51.390 --> 20:53.249 after the Democrats were so 20:53.250 --> 20:55.019 ticked off at the CIA for 20:55.020 --> 20:56.489 manipulating student movements in 20:56.490 --> 20:57.809 the 1970s. 20:57.810 --> 20:59.969 But essentially there was no 20:59.970 --> 21:02.399 CIA intermediary 21:02.400 --> 21:04.379 to random citizen 21:04.380 --> 21:06.209 journalists, there was no Pentagon 21:06.210 --> 21:07.229 backstop. 21:07.230 --> 21:08.879 You couldn't get a story killed. 21:08.880 --> 21:10.499 You couldn't have this favors for 21:10.500 --> 21:11.729 favors relationship. 21:11.730 --> 21:13.379 You couldn't promise access to some 21:13.380 --> 21:15.359 random person with 700,000 21:15.360 --> 21:17.129 followers who's got an opinion on 21:17.130 --> 21:18.539 Syrian gas. 21:18.540 --> 21:20.519 And so this induced and 21:20.520 --> 21:22.349 this was not a problem for the 21:22.350 --> 21:24.179 initial period of social media from 21:24.180 --> 21:26.759 2006 to 2014, because 21:26.760 --> 21:28.049 there were never dissident groups 21:28.050 --> 21:30.089 that were big enough to be able to 21:30.090 --> 21:32.009 have a mature ecosystem on 21:32.010 --> 21:33.929 their own. And all of the 21:33.930 --> 21:36.809 victories on social media had gone, 21:36.810 --> 21:38.639 in the way of where the money 21:38.640 --> 21:39.629 was, which was from the State 21:39.630 --> 21:40.649 Department, and the Defense 21:40.650 --> 21:41.669 Department, and the intelligence 21:41.670 --> 21:42.599 services. 21:42.600 --> 21:44.549 But then as that maturity 21:44.550 --> 21:46.529 happened, you now had 21:46.530 --> 21:48.299 this situation after the 2016 21:48.300 --> 21:50.279 election where they said, okay, 21:50.280 --> 21:52.109 now the entire international order 21:52.110 --> 21:53.879 might come undone. 21:53.880 --> 21:56.339 70 years of unified foreign policy 21:56.340 --> 21:58.199 from Truman until Trump are 21:58.200 --> 21:59.759 now about to be broken. 21:59.760 --> 22:01.769 And we need a the 22:01.770 --> 22:03.899 same analog control 22:03.900 --> 22:05.399 systems. We had to be able to put 22:05.400 --> 22:07.529 bumper cars on bad stories 22:07.530 --> 22:08.309 or bad. 22:08.310 --> 22:10.049 Political movements through legacy 22:10.050 --> 22:12.029 media, relationships and contacts. 22:12.030 --> 22:13.889 We now need to establish and 22:13.890 --> 22:15.719 consolidate within the social media 22:15.720 --> 22:16.559 companies. 22:16.560 --> 22:17.849 An initial predicate for that was 22:17.850 --> 22:19.109 Russiagate. But then after 22:19.110 --> 22:20.939 Russiagate died and they used 22:20.940 --> 22:22.499 a simple democracy promotion 22:22.500 --> 22:24.569 predicate, then it gave 22:24.570 --> 22:26.459 rise to this multi-billion dollar 22:26.460 --> 22:28.019 censorship industry that joins 22:28.020 --> 22:30.089 together the military industrial 22:30.090 --> 22:31.919 complex, the government, the 22:31.920 --> 22:33.719 private sector, civil society 22:33.720 --> 22:35.909 organizations, and then this vast 22:35.910 --> 22:37.889 cobweb of media allies 22:37.890 --> 22:40.319 and professional fact checker groups 22:40.320 --> 22:42.029 that that serve as this sort of 22:42.030 --> 22:43.709 sentinel class that surveys every 22:43.710 --> 22:44.710 word on the internet. 22:46.210 --> 22:48.129 So, can you 22:48.130 --> 22:49.869 give us a, and thank you again for 22:49.870 --> 22:52.359 this almost unbelievable explanation 22:52.360 --> 22:53.919 of why this is happening. 22:53.920 --> 22:55.929 Can you give us an example of how 22:55.930 --> 22:56.799 it happens? 22:56.800 --> 22:58.869 How just and just pick one 22:58.870 --> 23:00.939 among I know countless examples 23:00.940 --> 23:03.609 of how the national security state 23:03.610 --> 23:05.919 lies to the population, 23:05.920 --> 23:08.019 censors the truth, in 23:08.020 --> 23:08.589 real life. 23:08.590 --> 23:10.539 Yeah. So, you know, we have 23:10.540 --> 23:12.699 this State Department outfit 23:12.700 --> 23:14.499 called the Global Engagement Center, 23:14.500 --> 23:16.389 which was created by a guy 23:16.390 --> 23:17.829 named Rick Stengel, who described 23:17.830 --> 23:19.749 himself as Obama's propagandist 23:19.750 --> 23:20.559 in chief. 23:20.560 --> 23:22.239 He was the undersecretary for public 23:22.240 --> 23:24.219 affairs, which is essentially the 23:24.220 --> 23:25.959 relationship which is the liaison 23:25.960 --> 23:28.059 office role between 23:28.060 --> 23:29.589 the State Department and the 23:29.590 --> 23:30.399 mainstream media. 23:30.400 --> 23:32.229 So this is basically the exact nexus 23:32.230 --> 23:34.329 where government talking points 23:34.330 --> 23:36.309 about war or about diplomacy 23:36.310 --> 23:38.499 or statecraft get synchronized 23:38.500 --> 23:39.399 with mainstream media. 23:39.400 --> 23:41.379 And I, may I add something to that 23:41.380 --> 23:43.179 is someone I know, Rick Stengel, he 23:43.180 --> 23:45.249 was at one point a journalist. 23:45.250 --> 23:47.079 And Rick Stengel has made 23:47.080 --> 23:48.549 public arguments against the First 23:48.550 --> 23:50.529 Amendment and against free speech. 23:50.530 --> 23:51.819 And, oh, yeah, he wrote a whole book 23:51.820 --> 23:53.469 on it. He published an op-ed in 23:53.470 --> 23:55.449 2019. He wrote a whole book on 23:55.450 --> 23:56.739 it. And he, you know, he made the 23:56.740 --> 23:58.209 argument that that we just, you 23:58.210 --> 23:59.919 know, went over here that 23:59.920 --> 24:00.920 essentially, 24:02.410 --> 24:04.089 the Constitution was not prepared 24:04.090 --> 24:05.079 for the internet. 24:05.080 --> 24:06.909 And, we need to get rid of 24:06.910 --> 24:09.369 the First Amendment, accordingly. 24:09.370 --> 24:11.169 And, you know, he described himself 24:11.170 --> 24:12.819 as a free speech absolutist when he 24:12.820 --> 24:14.199 was the managing editor of time 24:14.200 --> 24:15.279 magazine. 24:15.280 --> 24:16.809 And even when he was in the State 24:16.810 --> 24:17.987 Department under Obama, 24:19.120 --> 24:20.559 he started something called the 24:20.560 --> 24:22.029 Global Engagement Center, which was 24:22.030 --> 24:24.009 the first government 24:24.010 --> 24:26.379 censorship, operation 24:26.380 --> 24:27.579 within the federal government. 24:27.580 --> 24:29.439 But it was foreign facing, so it was 24:29.440 --> 24:31.269 okay. Now, at the time, they used 24:31.270 --> 24:33.099 the, the homegrown 24:33.100 --> 24:35.529 ISIS predicate threat for this. 24:35.530 --> 24:37.149 And so it was very hard to argue 24:37.150 --> 24:39.009 against the idea of the State 24:39.010 --> 24:41.019 Department, having this 24:41.020 --> 24:43.149 formal coordination partnership 24:43.150 --> 24:45.549 with every major tech platform, 24:45.550 --> 24:46.809 in the U.S. 24:46.810 --> 24:48.369 because the, you know, at the time, 24:48.370 --> 24:50.559 there were these ISIS attacks 24:50.560 --> 24:52.359 that were and we were told that ISIS 24:52.360 --> 24:53.559 was recruiting on Twitter and 24:53.560 --> 24:54.549 Facebook. 24:54.550 --> 24:56.049 And so the Global Engagement Center 24:56.050 --> 24:57.879 was was established essentially 24:57.880 --> 25:00.249 to be a State Department, 25:00.250 --> 25:01.989 entanglement with the social media 25:01.990 --> 25:03.729 companies to basically put bumper 25:03.730 --> 25:05.679 cars on their ability to, 25:05.680 --> 25:07.899 to platform accounts and to 25:07.900 --> 25:09.849 and, and one of the things they did 25:09.850 --> 25:12.729 is they created a new technology, 25:12.730 --> 25:14.649 which it's called natural 25:14.650 --> 25:15.789 language processing. 25:15.790 --> 25:17.679 It is a artificial intelligence, 25:17.680 --> 25:19.989 machine learning, ability 25:19.990 --> 25:21.999 to create meaning out 25:22.000 --> 25:23.889 of words in order to 25:23.890 --> 25:25.809 map everything that everyone says 25:25.810 --> 25:27.669 on the internet and create this 25:27.670 --> 25:29.979 vast topography, topography 25:29.980 --> 25:31.659 of how communities are organized 25:31.660 --> 25:33.549 online, who the major influencers 25:33.550 --> 25:35.049 are, what they're talking about, 25:35.050 --> 25:36.429 what narratives are emerging or 25:36.430 --> 25:38.109 trending, and to be able to create 25:38.110 --> 25:40.029 this sort of network graph, 25:40.030 --> 25:42.009 in order to know who to target 25:42.010 --> 25:43.959 and, and, and how information 25:43.960 --> 25:45.429 moves through an ecosystem. 25:45.430 --> 25:46.719 And so they began plotting the 25:46.720 --> 25:48.339 language, the prefixes, the 25:48.340 --> 25:50.199 suffixes, the popular terms, 25:50.200 --> 25:52.359 the slogans that ISIS, 25:52.360 --> 25:54.489 folks were talking about on Twitter 25:54.490 --> 25:56.589 when, when Trump won the election 25:56.590 --> 25:57.669 in 2016, 25:59.380 --> 26:01.149 everyone who worked at the State 26:01.150 --> 26:03.399 Department, was expecting 26:03.400 --> 26:05.169 these promotions to the white House, 26:05.170 --> 26:06.999 National Security Council under 26:07.000 --> 26:08.409 Hillary Clinton, who I should 26:08.410 --> 26:10.299 remind, viewers, you know, 26:10.300 --> 26:12.189 was also secretary of state under 26:12.190 --> 26:13.509 Obama, actually ran the State 26:13.510 --> 26:14.739 Department, but these folks were all 26:14.740 --> 26:16.939 expecting promotions on November 26:16.940 --> 26:19.329 18th, November 8th, 2016 26:19.330 --> 26:21.729 and were unceremoniously, 26:21.730 --> 26:23.469 put out of jobs by a guy who was a 26:23.470 --> 26:25.209 20 to 1 underdog, according to the 26:25.210 --> 26:26.259 New York Times, the day of the 26:26.260 --> 26:28.209 election and when when that 26:28.210 --> 26:29.679 happened, these State Department 26:29.680 --> 26:31.029 folks took their special set of 26:31.030 --> 26:34.239 skills coercing governments, 26:34.240 --> 26:36.459 to, for sanctions 26:36.460 --> 26:38.889 in the State Department led the, 26:38.890 --> 26:40.719 the effort to sanction Russia 26:40.720 --> 26:42.759 over the Crimea annexation 26:42.760 --> 26:44.199 in 2014. 26:44.200 --> 26:46.059 These State Department diplomats did 26:46.060 --> 26:47.589 an international roadshow to 26:47.590 --> 26:49.089 pressure European governments to 26:49.090 --> 26:51.219 pass censorship laws, to 26:51.220 --> 26:52.749 censor the right wing populist 26:52.750 --> 26:55.119 groups in Europe, and as a boomerang 26:55.120 --> 26:57.219 impact to censor populist groups 26:57.220 --> 26:59.079 who were affiliated in the U.S.. 26:59.080 --> 27:00.080 So you had folks, 27:01.690 --> 27:03.219 you had folks who went from the 27:03.220 --> 27:04.419 State Department directly, for 27:04.420 --> 27:06.009 example, to the Atlantic Council, 27:06.010 --> 27:07.509 which was which was this major 27:07.510 --> 27:09.399 facilitator, between the 27:09.400 --> 27:11.289 government, between government to 27:11.290 --> 27:12.399 government censorship. The Atlantic 27:12.400 --> 27:14.229 Council is a group 27:14.230 --> 27:16.149 that was one of Biden's biggest 27:16.150 --> 27:17.499 political backers. 27:17.500 --> 27:19.479 They bill themselves 27:19.480 --> 27:21.249 as NATO's think tank. 27:21.250 --> 27:22.959 So they represent the political 27:22.960 --> 27:25.089 senses of NATO in 27:25.090 --> 27:27.969 many respects. When NATO has, 27:27.970 --> 27:29.799 civil society actions that they 27:29.800 --> 27:31.809 want to be coordinated to, 27:31.810 --> 27:33.399 to synchronize with military action, 27:33.400 --> 27:35.319 a region the Atlantic Council 27:35.320 --> 27:36.609 essentially is deployed to 27:36.610 --> 27:38.469 consensus, build and make that 27:38.470 --> 27:39.999 political action happen within a 27:40.000 --> 27:41.919 region of interest to NATO. 27:41.920 --> 27:43.539 Now, the Atlantic Council has seven 27:43.540 --> 27:45.219 CIA directors on its board. 27:45.220 --> 27:46.519 A lot of people don't even know that 27:46.520 --> 27:48.769 seven CIA directors are still alive, 27:48.770 --> 27:49.770 let alone all concentrated on 27:50.810 --> 27:52.349 the board of a single organization. 27:52.350 --> 27:53.959 That's kind of the heavyweight in 27:53.960 --> 27:54.889 the censorship industry. 27:54.890 --> 27:56.149 They get annual funding from the 27:56.150 --> 27:57.529 Department of Defense, the State 27:57.530 --> 27:59.209 Department, and CIA cutouts like the 27:59.210 --> 28:00.829 National Endowment for democracy. 28:00.830 --> 28:02.809 The Atlantic Council in January 28:02.810 --> 28:05.239 2017 moved immediately 28:05.240 --> 28:06.979 to pressure European governments to 28:06.980 --> 28:08.719 pass censorship laws to create a 28:08.720 --> 28:10.729 transatlantic flank attack 28:10.730 --> 28:12.709 on free speech in exactly the way 28:12.710 --> 28:14.389 that Rick Stengel essentially called 28:14.390 --> 28:16.249 for to have US mimic 28:16.250 --> 28:18.049 European censorship laws. 28:18.050 --> 28:19.969 One of the ways they did this was 28:19.970 --> 28:21.589 by getting Germany to pass something 28:21.590 --> 28:23.549 called NetzDG in August 28:23.550 --> 28:25.459 2017, which was which, which 28:25.460 --> 28:27.919 was essentially kicked off the era 28:27.920 --> 28:29.929 of, of automated 28:29.930 --> 28:31.489 censorship in the U.S. 28:31.490 --> 28:33.379 what NetzDG required was 28:33.380 --> 28:35.239 unless unless social media 28:35.240 --> 28:36.919 platforms wanted to pay a $54 28:36.920 --> 28:38.929 million fine for each 28:38.930 --> 28:40.939 instance of speech, each post left 28:40.940 --> 28:42.139 up on their platform for more than 28:42.140 --> 28:44.059 48 hours that had been identified 28:44.060 --> 28:45.499 as hate speech. 28:45.500 --> 28:47.389 They would they would be 28:47.390 --> 28:49.339 fined basically into bankruptcy 28:49.340 --> 28:51.709 when you aggregate 54 million over 28:51.710 --> 28:53.539 tens of thousands of posts per day. 28:53.540 --> 28:55.669 And the the safe haven around 28:55.670 --> 28:58.129 that was if they deployed artificial 28:58.130 --> 28:59.839 intelligence based censorship 28:59.840 --> 29:01.339 technologies, which had been again 29:01.340 --> 29:03.289 created by DARPA to take 29:03.290 --> 29:05.119 on ISIS, to be able to 29:05.120 --> 29:07.939 scan and ban speech automatically. 29:07.940 --> 29:09.349 And this was a this gave no. 29:09.350 --> 29:10.579 I call these weapons of mass 29:10.580 --> 29:11.389 deletion. 29:11.390 --> 29:13.279 These are essentially the ability 29:13.280 --> 29:15.169 to censor tens of millions of 29:15.170 --> 29:17.029 posts with just a few 29:17.030 --> 29:18.289 lines of code. 29:18.290 --> 29:20.269 And the way this is done is by 29:20.270 --> 29:22.159 aggregating 29:22.160 --> 29:24.229 basically the field of censorship 29:24.230 --> 29:26.059 science fuzes together two 29:26.060 --> 29:27.739 disparate groups of study, if you 29:27.740 --> 29:30.079 will. There's this sort of political 29:30.080 --> 29:31.999 and social scientists who 29:32.000 --> 29:33.259 are the sort of thought leaders of 29:33.260 --> 29:34.639 what should be censored. 29:34.640 --> 29:35.599 And then there are the sort of 29:35.600 --> 29:36.559 quants, if you will. 29:36.560 --> 29:38.029 These are the programmers, the 29:38.030 --> 29:39.769 computational data scientists, 29:39.770 --> 29:41.149 computational linguistics. 29:41.150 --> 29:42.979 Every university, there's over 60 29:42.980 --> 29:44.749 universities now who get federal 29:44.750 --> 29:46.669 government grants to do this. 29:46.670 --> 29:48.619 Censorship, the censorship 29:48.620 --> 29:49.729 work and the censorship preparation 29:49.730 --> 29:50.989 work, where what they do is they 29:50.990 --> 29:52.639 create these code books of the 29:52.640 --> 29:54.259 language that people use the same 29:54.260 --> 29:55.129 way they did for ISIS. 29:55.130 --> 29:56.029 They do this, for example, with 29:56.030 --> 29:58.159 Covid, they created these these 29:58.160 --> 30:00.169 Covid lexicons of what dissident 30:00.170 --> 30:01.999 groups were saying about mandates, 30:02.000 --> 30:04.339 about masks, about vaccines, 30:04.340 --> 30:05.989 about high profile individuals like 30:05.990 --> 30:07.879 Tony Fauci or, 30:07.880 --> 30:08.880 were, 30:10.280 --> 30:12.259 Peter Daszak or any of these others 30:12.260 --> 30:14.209 protected VIP and individuals whose 30:14.210 --> 30:15.499 reputations had to be protected 30:15.500 --> 30:17.449 online. And they created these code 30:17.450 --> 30:19.519 books. They broke things down into 30:19.520 --> 30:20.899 narratives. The Atlantic Council, 30:20.900 --> 30:22.579 for example, was a part of this, 30:22.580 --> 30:24.649 this government funded consortium, 30:24.650 --> 30:25.759 something called the Virality 30:25.760 --> 30:27.619 Project, which which mapped 30:27.620 --> 30:29.479 66 different narratives 30:29.480 --> 30:31.009 that dissidents were talking about 30:31.010 --> 30:32.449 around Covid, everything from Covid 30:32.450 --> 30:34.879 origins to vaccine efficacy. 30:34.880 --> 30:37.189 And then they broke down these 66 30:37.190 --> 30:38.629 claims into all the different 30:38.630 --> 30:40.129 factual sub claims. 30:40.130 --> 30:41.989 And then they plugged these into 30:41.990 --> 30:43.669 these essentially machine learning 30:43.670 --> 30:45.739 models to be able to have a 30:45.740 --> 30:47.899 constant world heat map 30:47.900 --> 30:49.549 of what everybody was saying about 30:49.550 --> 30:50.749 Covid. And whenever something 30:50.750 --> 30:52.579 started a trend that was bad 30:52.580 --> 30:54.109 for what the Pentagon wanted or was 30:54.110 --> 30:55.999 bad for what Tony Fauci wanted, 30:56.000 --> 30:57.769 they were able to take down tens of 30:57.770 --> 30:58.729 millions of posts. 30:58.730 --> 31:00.979 They did this in the 2020 election 31:00.980 --> 31:01.939 with Mail-In ballots. 31:01.940 --> 31:02.940 It was this week. 31:04.160 --> 31:05.659 I'm sorry. I just got to have 31:05.660 --> 31:07.399 there's so much here and it's so 31:07.400 --> 31:08.299 shocking. 31:08.300 --> 31:10.279 So you're saying the Pentagon, 31:10.280 --> 31:12.229 our Pentagon, the 31:12.230 --> 31:14.809 U.S. Department of Defense censored 31:14.810 --> 31:16.729 Americans during the 31:16.730 --> 31:18.619 2020 election 31:18.620 --> 31:19.459 cycle? 31:19.460 --> 31:21.019 Yes, they did this. 31:21.020 --> 31:22.789 They oh, they did this through the 31:22.790 --> 31:24.709 so so there's the 31:24.710 --> 31:26.569 two most censored events in human 31:26.570 --> 31:28.519 history, I would argue to date 31:28.520 --> 31:30.439 are the 2020 election and 31:30.440 --> 31:33.169 the Covid 19 pandemic. 31:33.170 --> 31:35.089 And I'll explain, you know, how 31:35.090 --> 31:36.019 I arrived there. 31:36.020 --> 31:38.989 So the 2020 election 31:38.990 --> 31:40.849 was determined by mail in ballots. 31:40.850 --> 31:42.199 And I'm not weighing into the 31:42.200 --> 31:43.909 substance of whether mail in ballots 31:43.910 --> 31:45.679 were or were not a legitimate or 31:45.680 --> 31:47.569 safe and reliable form of 31:47.570 --> 31:48.949 a voting. That's a completely 31:48.950 --> 31:50.899 independent topic from 31:50.900 --> 31:52.159 my perspective and the censorship 31:52.160 --> 31:54.089 issue. One but the censorship 31:54.090 --> 31:56.059 of mail in ballots is 31:56.060 --> 31:57.619 really one of the most extraordinary 31:57.620 --> 31:59.719 stories in our American 31:59.720 --> 32:01.729 history I would argue. What happened 32:01.730 --> 32:04.009 was, is you had this plot 32:04.010 --> 32:05.299 within the Department of Homeland 32:05.300 --> 32:06.229 Security. 32:06.230 --> 32:07.999 Now this gets back to what we were 32:08.000 --> 32:09.049 talking about with the State 32:09.050 --> 32:10.159 Department's Global Engagement 32:10.160 --> 32:11.599 Center. You had this group within 32:11.600 --> 32:13.069 the Atlantic Council in the foreign 32:13.070 --> 32:15.259 policy establishment, which 32:15.260 --> 32:17.119 began arguing in 2017 for 32:17.120 --> 32:19.099 the need for a permanent domestic 32:19.100 --> 32:21.409 censorship government office 32:21.410 --> 32:23.299 to serve as a quarterback for what 32:23.300 --> 32:25.159 they called a home of society. 32:25.160 --> 32:27.139 Counter misinformation, counter 32:27.140 --> 32:28.759 disinformation alliance. 32:28.760 --> 32:29.779 That just means censorship. 32:29.780 --> 32:31.609 The counter missed this info, but 32:31.610 --> 32:33.409 whole of their whole society model 32:33.410 --> 32:35.329 explicitly proposed that 32:35.330 --> 32:37.189 that we need every 32:37.190 --> 32:39.079 single asset within society 32:39.080 --> 32:40.879 to be mobilized in a whole of 32:40.880 --> 32:42.679 society effort to stop 32:42.680 --> 32:44.449 misinformation online. 32:44.450 --> 32:45.729 It was that much of. An existential 32:45.730 --> 32:46.869 threat to democracy. 32:46.870 --> 32:49.509 And so it but they they 32:49.510 --> 32:51.339 fixated in 2017 that it 32:51.340 --> 32:52.629 had to be centered within the 32:52.630 --> 32:53.949 government because only the 32:53.950 --> 32:56.019 government would have the clout and 32:56.020 --> 32:57.879 the coercive threat powers and 32:57.880 --> 32:59.769 the and the perceived authority 32:59.770 --> 33:01.809 to be able to tell the social 33:01.810 --> 33:03.549 media companies what to do, to be 33:03.550 --> 33:05.589 able to summon in a government 33:05.590 --> 33:07.359 funded NGOs form, to create that 33:07.360 --> 33:09.189 media surround sound, to be able 33:09.190 --> 33:11.019 to arm in a, you 33:11.020 --> 33:12.879 know, an astroturf army of of fact 33:12.880 --> 33:14.319 checkers and to be able to liaise 33:14.320 --> 33:15.909 and connect all these different 33:15.910 --> 33:17.979 censorship industry actors into 33:17.980 --> 33:19.929 a cohesive, unified whole. 33:19.930 --> 33:21.339 And the Atlantic Council initially 33:21.340 --> 33:23.019 proposed with this blueprint called 33:23.020 --> 33:24.069 forward defense. 33:24.070 --> 33:25.359 It's not offense, it's forward 33:25.360 --> 33:26.649 defense guys. 33:26.650 --> 33:28.479 They initially proposed that running 33:28.480 --> 33:29.709 this out of the State Department's 33:29.710 --> 33:31.329 Global engagement Center, because 33:31.330 --> 33:33.159 they had so many assets there who 33:33.160 --> 33:34.839 were so effective at censorship 33:34.840 --> 33:36.759 under Rick Stengel Steed, and under 33:36.760 --> 33:38.079 the Obama administration. 33:38.080 --> 33:39.459 But they said, oh, we we're not 33:39.460 --> 33:40.389 gonna be able to get away with that 33:40.390 --> 33:41.379 because we don't really have a national 33:41.380 --> 33:42.909 security predicate, and it's 33:42.910 --> 33:43.929 supposed to be foreign facing. 33:43.930 --> 33:45.339 We can't really use that hook unless 33:45.340 --> 33:46.749 we have a sort of national security 33:46.750 --> 33:48.909 one. Then they contemplated parking 33:48.910 --> 33:50.829 at the CIA and they said, well, 33:50.830 --> 33:51.999 actually, there's two reasons we 33:52.000 --> 33:52.839 can't do that. 33:52.840 --> 33:54.399 CIA is foreign facing, and we can't 33:54.400 --> 33:55.779 really establish a counterintelligence 33:55.780 --> 33:57.249 threat to bring it home domestically. 33:57.250 --> 33:58.359 Also, we're going to need 33:58.360 --> 33:59.619 essentially tens of thousands of 33:59.620 --> 34:01.359 people involved in this operation 34:01.360 --> 34:03.159 spanning this whole society model. 34:03.160 --> 34:04.479 You can't really run a clandestine 34:04.480 --> 34:05.739 operation that way. 34:05.740 --> 34:06.819 So they said, okay, well, what about 34:06.820 --> 34:08.408 the FBI? They said, well, the FBI 34:08.409 --> 34:09.939 would be great. It's domestic. 34:09.940 --> 34:11.678 But the problem is, is the FBI is 34:11.679 --> 34:13.299 supposed to be the intelligence arm 34:13.300 --> 34:15.218 of the Justice Department and 34:15.219 --> 34:17.019 weak. And what we're dealing with 34:17.020 --> 34:18.709 here are not acts of lawbreaking. 34:18.710 --> 34:20.738 That's basically support for Trump. 34:20.739 --> 34:22.658 Or if, you know, if a left wing 34:22.659 --> 34:24.069 populist had risen to power like 34:24.070 --> 34:25.988 Bernie Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn, I 34:25.989 --> 34:26.948 have no doubt they would have done 34:26.949 --> 34:28.209 in the UK, they would have done the 34:28.210 --> 34:29.259 same thing to him there. 34:29.260 --> 34:30.999 They targeted Jeremy Corbyn and 34:31.000 --> 34:32.649 other left wing populist NATO 34:32.650 --> 34:34.329 skeptical groups in Europe. 34:34.330 --> 34:35.349 But in the U.S. 34:35.350 --> 34:36.519 it was it was all Trump. 34:36.520 --> 34:38.169 And so essentially what they said 34:38.170 --> 34:40.178 is, well, the only other domestic 34:40.179 --> 34:41.919 intelligence equity we have in the 34:41.920 --> 34:44.529 US besides the FBI is the DHS. 34:44.530 --> 34:46.359 So we are going to essentially take 34:46.360 --> 34:48.369 the CIA's power to rig 34:48.370 --> 34:49.869 and bribe foreign media 34:49.870 --> 34:51.579 organizations, which is a power 34:51.580 --> 34:52.839 they've had since the day they were 34:52.840 --> 34:54.609 born in 1947. 34:54.610 --> 34:56.649 And we're going to combine that with 34:56.650 --> 34:58.359 the power, with the domestic 34:58.360 --> 35:00.399 jurisdiction of the FBI 35:00.400 --> 35:02.619 by putting it at DHS. 35:02.620 --> 35:04.569 So DHS was basically 35:04.570 --> 35:05.769 deputized. 35:05.770 --> 35:07.149 It was empowered through this 35:07.150 --> 35:09.069 obscure little cyber security, 35:09.070 --> 35:11.079 agency to have the combined 35:11.080 --> 35:12.969 powers that the CIA has abroad with 35:12.970 --> 35:15.099 the jurisdiction of the FBI at home. 35:15.100 --> 35:16.959 And the way they did this, how 35:16.960 --> 35:18.339 did a cyber and an obscure little 35:18.340 --> 35:20.169 cyber security agency get 35:20.170 --> 35:22.689 this power was they 35:22.690 --> 35:24.579 did a funny little series 35:24.580 --> 35:25.719 of switch ruse. 35:25.720 --> 35:27.909 So this little thing called CISA 35:27.910 --> 35:29.169 the and call it the Disinformation 35:29.170 --> 35:30.309 Governance Board. They didn't call 35:30.310 --> 35:31.779 it the censorship agency. 35:31.780 --> 35:33.399 They gave it an obscure little name 35:33.400 --> 35:34.539 that no one would notice, called the 35:34.540 --> 35:36.159 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 35:36.160 --> 35:38.169 Security Agency, who its founder 35:38.170 --> 35:39.969 said, we just security, we care 35:39.970 --> 35:41.079 about security so much it's in our 35:41.080 --> 35:42.669 name twice. And everybody sort of 35:42.670 --> 35:44.589 closed their eyes and pretended, 35:44.590 --> 35:45.819 you know, that's what it was. 35:45.820 --> 35:47.109 But it was created by act of 35:47.110 --> 35:48.939 Congress in 2018 35:48.940 --> 35:50.379 because of the perceived threat that 35:50.380 --> 35:53.019 Russia had hacked the 2016 35:53.020 --> 35:54.879 election, had physically hacked 35:54.880 --> 35:57.039 it. And so we needed the cyber 35:57.040 --> 35:58.869 security power, 35:58.870 --> 36:00.759 to be able to, to be 36:00.760 --> 36:01.689 able to deal with that. And 36:01.690 --> 36:03.159 essentially on the heels of a CIA 36:03.160 --> 36:05.559 memo on January 6th, 2017, 36:05.560 --> 36:07.869 and a same day, DHS executive 36:07.870 --> 36:10.149 order on January 6th, 2017, 36:10.150 --> 36:12.189 arguing that Russia had interfered 36:12.190 --> 36:14.499 in the 2016 election and a DHS 36:14.500 --> 36:15.789 mandate, saying that elections are 36:15.790 --> 36:17.589 now critical infrastructure. 36:17.590 --> 36:20.079 You had this new power within DHS 36:20.080 --> 36:22.239 to say that cyber security attacks 36:22.240 --> 36:24.189 on elections are now our 36:24.190 --> 36:24.999 purview. 36:25.000 --> 36:27.249 And then they did two cute things. 36:27.250 --> 36:29.469 One, they said 36:29.470 --> 36:31.149 so they said, miss this. 36:31.150 --> 36:33.909 And information online 36:33.910 --> 36:36.249 are a form of cyber security 36:36.250 --> 36:38.019 attack. They are a cyber attack 36:38.020 --> 36:40.329 because they are happening online. 36:40.330 --> 36:42.759 And they said, well, actually 36:42.760 --> 36:44.769 Russian disinformation is 36:44.770 --> 36:46.269 we're actually protecting democracy 36:46.270 --> 36:47.619 in elections. We don't need a 36:47.620 --> 36:49.119 Russian predicate after Russiagate 36:49.120 --> 36:51.339 died. So just like that, 36:51.340 --> 36:53.439 you had the Cyber Security Agency 36:53.440 --> 36:56.199 be able to legally make the argument 36:56.200 --> 36:58.239 that your tweets about Mail-In 36:58.240 --> 37:00.069 ballots, if you undermine public 37:00.070 --> 37:01.929 faith and confidence in them 37:01.930 --> 37:03.849 as a legitimate form of voting, 37:03.850 --> 37:05.679 was now you were now conducting 37:05.680 --> 37:07.539 a cyber attack on US critical 37:07.540 --> 37:09.519 infrastructure by by 37:09.520 --> 37:11.259 articulating misinformation on 37:11.260 --> 37:12.069 Twitter. 37:12.070 --> 37:13.539 And just like that and now what they 37:13.540 --> 37:14.529 did then is they. 37:14.530 --> 37:15.530 So in other words, complaining 37:17.320 --> 37:19.329 about election fraud is the same as 37:19.330 --> 37:21.309 taking down our power grid. 37:21.310 --> 37:23.169 Yes, you could literally be on your 37:23.170 --> 37:25.539 toilet seat at 9:30 on 37:25.540 --> 37:27.759 a Thursday night and tweet, 37:27.760 --> 37:29.469 "I think that Mail-In ballots are 37:29.470 --> 37:31.479 illegitimate." And you 37:31.480 --> 37:33.309 were essentially then caught up 37:33.310 --> 37:34.749 in the crosshairs of the Department 37:34.750 --> 37:36.399 of Homeland Security, classifying 37:36.400 --> 37:38.739 you as conducting a cyber 37:38.740 --> 37:39.639 attack on U.S. 37:39.640 --> 37:41.439 critical infrastructure because you 37:41.440 --> 37:43.869 were doing misinformation 37:43.870 --> 37:45.689 online in the cyber realm and 37:45.690 --> 37:47.849 misinformation is a cyber attack 37:47.850 --> 37:49.919 on democracy when it undermines 37:49.920 --> 37:52.769 public faith and confidence in 37:52.770 --> 37:54.929 our democratic elections 37:54.930 --> 37:55.781 and our democratic institutions. 37:55.782 --> 37:57.719 They would end up going far 37:57.720 --> 37:58.619 beyond that. They would actually 37:58.620 --> 38:00.719 define democratic institutions 38:00.720 --> 38:01.979 as being another thing that was a 38:01.980 --> 38:04.049 cyber security attack to, 38:04.050 --> 38:04.829 to undermine. 38:04.830 --> 38:05.939 And lo and behold, the mainstream 38:05.940 --> 38:07.709 media is considered a democratic 38:07.710 --> 38:08.489 institution. 38:08.490 --> 38:09.809 That would come later. 38:09.810 --> 38:11.459 What ended up happening was in 38:11.460 --> 38:13.229 advance of the 2020 election, 38:13.230 --> 38:15.119 starting in April of 2020, although 38:15.120 --> 38:17.069 this goes back before. You had this 38:17.070 --> 38:19.229 essentially Never-Trump neocon 38:19.230 --> 38:21.779 Republican DHS 38:21.780 --> 38:23.609 working with essentially 38:23.610 --> 38:25.889 NATO on the national security side 38:25.890 --> 38:28.109 and and essentially the DNC, 38:28.110 --> 38:30.179 if you will, to to 38:30.180 --> 38:32.069 use DHS as the launching 38:32.070 --> 38:34.019 point for a government 38:34.020 --> 38:36.509 coordinated mass censorship 38:36.510 --> 38:38.669 campaign spanning every 38:38.670 --> 38:40.589 single social media platform on 38:40.590 --> 38:42.749 Earth in order to pre 38:42.750 --> 38:44.579 censor the ability to 38:44.580 --> 38:46.319 dispute the legitimacy of mail in 38:46.320 --> 38:47.699 ballots. And here's how they did 38:47.700 --> 38:49.679 this. They aggregated four 38:49.680 --> 38:50.680 different institutions: Stanford 38:52.410 --> 38:54.029 University, the University of 38:54.030 --> 38:55.799 Washington, a company called 38:55.800 --> 38:57.929 Graphika, and the Atlantic Council. 38:57.930 --> 38:59.879 Now all four of these institutions, 38:59.880 --> 39:01.739 the centers within them, were 39:01.740 --> 39:03.569 where we're essentially Pentagon 39:03.570 --> 39:04.529 cutouts. 39:04.530 --> 39:06.419 You had, you had at the Stanford 39:06.420 --> 39:07.469 Internet Observatory. 39:07.470 --> 39:09.179 It was actually run by Michael 39:09.180 --> 39:10.019 McFaul. 39:10.020 --> 39:11.489 If you know Michael McFaul, he was 39:11.490 --> 39:13.221 the U.S. ambassador to Russia 39:14.820 --> 39:16.679 under the Obama 39:16.680 --> 39:17.879 administration. 39:17.880 --> 39:19.919 And he personally authored 39:19.920 --> 39:21.749 a seven step playbook for 39:21.750 --> 39:23.369 how to successfully orchestrate a 39:23.370 --> 39:25.409 color revolution that is, in 39:25.410 --> 39:27.329 part of that involved maintaining 39:27.330 --> 39:29.099 total control over media and 39:29.100 --> 39:30.959 social media, juicing up the 39:30.960 --> 39:33.329 civil society outfits, 39:33.330 --> 39:35.279 calling elections illegitimate 39:35.280 --> 39:36.299 in order.... 39:36.300 --> 39:37.289 All of these people were 39:37.290 --> 39:38.579 professional Russiagaters, 39:38.580 --> 39:39.869 professional election 39:39.870 --> 39:41.054 de-legitimizers in 2016. 39:41.055 --> 39:42.055 So 39:44.250 --> 39:45.250 Stanford University, the 39:47.280 --> 39:49.139 Stanford Observatory under Michael 39:49.140 --> 39:50.969 McFaul was run by Alex Stamos, 39:50.970 --> 39:52.889 who was formerly a Facebook 39:52.890 --> 39:55.319 executive who coordinated with 39:55.320 --> 39:57.479 DNI and the, with respect 39:57.480 --> 39:59.759 to, Russiagate, 39:59.760 --> 40:00.959 you know, taking down Russian 40:00.960 --> 40:02.819 propaganda at Facebook. 40:02.820 --> 40:05.159 So this is another, liaison 40:05.160 --> 40:06.359 essentially to the national security 40:06.360 --> 40:07.979 state and under Alex Stamos at 40:07.980 --> 40:09.959 Stanford Observatory was 40:09.960 --> 40:11.639 Renée DiResta, who started her 40:11.640 --> 40:13.499 career in the CIA and wrote 40:13.500 --> 40:14.789 the Senate Intelligence Committee 40:14.790 --> 40:16.709 report on Russian 40:16.710 --> 40:17.729 disinformation. 40:17.730 --> 40:19.289 And there's a lot more there that 40:19.290 --> 40:20.309 I'll get to at another time. 40:20.310 --> 40:22.679 But, the next institution 40:22.680 --> 40:24.479 was was the University of 40:24.480 --> 40:25.979 Washington, which is essentially the 40:25.980 --> 40:28.169 Bill Gates University in Seattle, 40:28.170 --> 40:30.809 who is headed by Kate Starbird, who, 40:30.810 --> 40:32.819 is is basically three generations 40:32.820 --> 40:34.709 of military brass who got her PhD in 40:34.710 --> 40:36.749 crisis informatics, essentially 40:36.750 --> 40:38.519 doing, you know, social media 40:38.520 --> 40:39.959 surveillance for the Pentagon and 40:39.960 --> 40:41.999 getting, you know, DARPA funding 40:42.000 --> 40:44.039 and, and working essentially 40:44.040 --> 40:45.389 with the national security state 40:45.390 --> 40:47.159 then repurposed to take on mail in 40:47.160 --> 40:49.109 ballots. The third firm, Graphika, 40:49.110 --> 40:51.179 got $7 million in Pentagon 40:51.180 --> 40:52.180 grants, 40:53.310 --> 40:54.929 and got their start as part of the 40:54.930 --> 40:56.729 Pentagon's Minerva initiative. 40:56.730 --> 40:58.199 The Minerva initiative is the 40:58.200 --> 41:00.239 psychological warfare research 41:00.240 --> 41:01.919 center of the Pentagon. 41:01.920 --> 41:03.809 This group was 41:03.810 --> 41:06.449 doing social media spying 41:06.450 --> 41:08.009 and narrative mapping for the 41:08.010 --> 41:10.049 Pentagon until the 2016 election 41:10.050 --> 41:11.489 happened and then were were 41:11.490 --> 41:13.169 repurposed into a partnership with 41:13.170 --> 41:14.879 the Department of Homeland Security 41:14.880 --> 41:16.979 to censor, you know, 22 million 41:16.980 --> 41:19.139 Trump tweets, pro-Trump tweets 41:19.140 --> 41:20.309 about Mail-In ballots. 41:20.310 --> 41:21.629 And then the fourth institution, as 41:21.630 --> 41:22.619 I mentioned, was the Atlantic 41:22.620 --> 41:24.059 Council, who's got seven CIA 41:24.060 --> 41:25.139 directors on the board. 41:25.140 --> 41:27.119 So one after another, it is 41:27.120 --> 41:29.339 exactly what Ben Rhodes described 41:29.340 --> 41:31.589 it during the Obama era as the blob, 41:31.590 --> 41:33.449 the foreign policy establishment. 41:33.450 --> 41:35.579 It's a it's the it's the Defense 41:35.580 --> 41:36.779 Department, the State Department, or 41:36.780 --> 41:39.119 the CIA every single time. 41:39.120 --> 41:40.589 And of course, this was because they 41:40.590 --> 41:42.299 were they were threatened by Trump's 41:42.300 --> 41:43.469 foreign policy. 41:43.470 --> 41:45.389 And so while while 41:45.390 --> 41:46.529 much of the censorship looks like 41:46.530 --> 41:48.359 it's coming domestically, it's 41:48.360 --> 41:49.799 actually by our foreign facing 41:49.800 --> 41:51.569 department of dirty tricks, color 41:51.570 --> 41:53.069 revolution blob, who are 41:53.070 --> 41:54.989 professional government topless, 41:54.990 --> 41:56.759 who were then basically descended on 41:56.760 --> 41:58.169 the 2020 election. 41:58.170 --> 41:59.759 Now they did this. 41:59.760 --> 42:01.289 They explicitly said the head of 42:01.290 --> 42:03.449 this election integrity partnership 42:03.450 --> 42:05.489 on tape and 42:05.490 --> 42:06.929 my foundation clipped them. 42:06.930 --> 42:07.829 And it's been played before 42:07.830 --> 42:09.569 Congress. And it's in, you know, a 42:09.570 --> 42:11.279 part of the Missouri v Biden lawsuit 42:11.280 --> 42:13.319 now, but they explicitly 42:13.320 --> 42:15.209 said on tape that they were set 42:15.210 --> 42:17.279 up to do what the government 42:17.280 --> 42:19.379 was banned from doing itself. 42:19.380 --> 42:20.819 And then they articulated a 42:20.820 --> 42:22.649 multi-step framework in order to 42:22.650 --> 42:25.049 coerce all the tech companies 42:25.050 --> 42:26.489 to take censorship actions. 42:26.490 --> 42:27.539 They said on tape, the tech 42:27.540 --> 42:28.799 companies would not have done, but 42:28.800 --> 42:30.689 for their pressure, which involved 42:30.690 --> 42:32.279 using threats of government force. 42:32.280 --> 42:34.109 Because they were the deputized arm 42:34.110 --> 42:36.029 of the government, they had a formal 42:36.030 --> 42:37.409 partnership with the DHS. 42:37.410 --> 42:39.029 They were able to use DHS as 42:39.030 --> 42:41.489 proprietary domestic disinformation 42:41.490 --> 42:43.499 switchboard to immediately talk 42:43.500 --> 42:44.429 to top brass. 42:44.430 --> 42:45.449 All the tech companies for 42:45.450 --> 42:47.399 takedowns, and they bragged on tape 42:47.400 --> 42:48.629 about how they got the tech 42:48.630 --> 42:50.669 companies to all systematically 42:50.670 --> 42:52.829 adopt a new terms of service speech 42:52.830 --> 42:53.909 violation band called 42:53.910 --> 42:55.799 delegitimization, which meant 42:55.800 --> 42:57.989 any tweet, any YouTube video, 42:57.990 --> 43:00.149 any Facebook post, any TikTok 43:00.150 --> 43:02.249 video, any discord posts, 43:02.250 --> 43:04.289 any Twitch video, anything 43:04.290 --> 43:06.719 on the internet that that, 43:06.720 --> 43:08.219 undermined public faith and 43:08.220 --> 43:10.109 confidence in the use of mail 43:10.110 --> 43:12.509 in ballots or early voting dropboxes 43:12.510 --> 43:14.429 or or ballot 43:14.430 --> 43:16.319 tabulation issues on election Day 43:16.320 --> 43:18.719 was a prima facia, 43:18.720 --> 43:20.609 Terms of Service violation policy 43:20.610 --> 43:22.169 under this new delegitimization 43:22.170 --> 43:24.599 policy that they only adopted 43:24.600 --> 43:26.249 because of past through government 43:26.250 --> 43:28.049 pressure from the Election Integrity 43:28.050 --> 43:29.309 Partnership, which they bragged 43:29.310 --> 43:31.019 about on tape, including the grid 43:31.020 --> 43:32.909 that they used to do this and 43:32.910 --> 43:34.949 simultaneously invoking threats of 43:34.950 --> 43:36.959 government, breaking them up, or 43:36.960 --> 43:38.339 government stopping doing favors for 43:38.340 --> 43:39.419 the tech companies unless they did 43:39.420 --> 43:41.429 this, as well as inducing crisis PR 43:41.430 --> 43:43.349 by working with their media allies. 43:43.350 --> 43:44.879 And they said the government, DHS 43:44.880 --> 43:46.049 could not do that themselves. 43:46.050 --> 43:48.899 And so they set up this basically 43:48.900 --> 43:50.999 constellation of State Department, 43:51.000 --> 43:52.949 Pentagon, and 43:52.950 --> 43:54.869 I.C. networks to run 43:54.870 --> 43:56.819 this pre censorship campaign, 43:56.820 --> 43:58.949 which by their own math, had 22 43:58.950 --> 44:01.079 million tweets on Twitter alone. 44:01.080 --> 44:02.909 And I think it's on 15 platforms. 44:02.910 --> 44:04.199 This is hundreds of millions of 44:04.200 --> 44:06.029 posts which were all 44:06.030 --> 44:08.039 scanned and banned or throttled 44:08.040 --> 44:09.659 so that they could not be amplified 44:09.660 --> 44:10.979 or they exist in a sort of limited 44:10.980 --> 44:13.019 state purgatory, or had these 44:13.020 --> 44:14.639 frictions affixed to them in the 44:14.640 --> 44:16.469 form of fact checking labels 44:16.470 --> 44:17.459 where you couldn't actually click 44:17.460 --> 44:18.779 through to thing or you had to. 44:18.780 --> 44:20.009 It was is an inconvenience to be 44:20.010 --> 44:21.239 able to share it. 44:21.240 --> 44:22.409 Now, they did this seven months 44:22.410 --> 44:24.089 before the election because at the 44:24.090 --> 44:25.949 time they were worried about 44:25.950 --> 44:28.019 the perceived legitimacy of a Biden 44:28.020 --> 44:30.179 victory in the case of a so-called 44:30.180 --> 44:32.009 red mirage blue shift 44:32.010 --> 44:32.909 event. 44:32.910 --> 44:34.499 They knew the only way that Biden 44:34.500 --> 44:36.029 would be able to was would win 44:36.030 --> 44:38.039 mathematically, was through 44:38.040 --> 44:39.869 the disproportionate Democrat use 44:39.870 --> 44:41.399 of mail in ballots. 44:41.400 --> 44:42.779 They knew there would be a crisis 44:42.780 --> 44:43.799 because it was going to look 44:43.800 --> 44:45.809 extremely weird if if 44:45.810 --> 44:47.399 Trump looked like he won by seven 44:47.400 --> 44:49.529 states and, you know, 44:49.530 --> 44:51.299 and then three days later it comes 44:51.300 --> 44:52.439 out, actually, the election 44:52.440 --> 44:53.609 switched. I mean, that that would 44:53.610 --> 44:55.469 put the election crisis of the 44:55.470 --> 44:57.419 Bush Gore election, on 44:57.420 --> 44:59.069 a level of steroids that the 44:59.070 --> 45:01.169 national security state said, well, 45:01.170 --> 45:02.729 the public will not be prepared for 45:02.730 --> 45:04.709 it. So what we need to do is we 45:04.710 --> 45:06.659 need to in advance we 45:06.660 --> 45:08.519 need to pre censor the ability to 45:08.520 --> 45:10.379 even question the legitimacy 45:10.380 --> 45:11.369 this took out. 45:11.370 --> 45:12.479 Wait, wait, wait. May I ask you to 45:12.480 --> 45:13.979 pause right there. 45:13.980 --> 45:15.478 So what you're saying is... 45:15.479 --> 45:17.849 What you're suggesting is 45:17.850 --> 45:19.199 they knew the outcome of the 45:19.200 --> 45:20.789 election seven months before it was 45:20.790 --> 45:21.389 held. 45:21.390 --> 45:22.800 It looks very bad. 45:25.050 --> 45:26.820 Yes, Mike, it does look very bad. 45:29.400 --> 45:30.569 You know, and especially when you 45:30.570 --> 45:31.799 combine this with the fact that this 45:31.800 --> 45:33.719 is right on the heels of the 45:33.720 --> 45:36.209 impeachment, the Pentagon-led, 45:36.210 --> 45:37.949 CIA-led impeachment. 45:37.950 --> 45:39.959 You know, it was, Eric 45:39.960 --> 45:41.339 Ciaramella from the CIA, and it was 45:41.340 --> 45:43.319 the Vindmans from the Pentagon, 45:43.320 --> 45:45.509 who led the impeachment of Trump 45:45.510 --> 45:47.429 in late 2019 45:47.430 --> 45:49.589 over, you know, an alleged phone 45:49.590 --> 45:51.929 call around withholding Ukraine 45:51.930 --> 45:53.849 aid. This same network, 45:53.850 --> 45:55.829 which came straight out of the 45:55.830 --> 45:58.320 Pentagon, hybrid warfare 45:59.400 --> 46:01.859 military censorship network created 46:01.860 --> 46:03.689 after the first, you know, Ukraine 46:03.690 --> 46:05.639 crisis in 2014, 46:05.640 --> 46:07.619 were the lead architects of 46:07.620 --> 46:09.479 the Ukraine impeachment 46:09.480 --> 46:11.429 in 2019 and then essentially came 46:11.430 --> 46:13.649 back on steroids as part of the 2020 46:13.650 --> 46:15.569 election censorship operation. 46:15.570 --> 46:16.589 But, you know, from their 46:16.590 --> 46:18.569 perspective, I mean, it 46:18.570 --> 46:20.369 certainly looks like the perfect 46:20.370 --> 46:21.269 crime. 46:21.270 --> 46:23.369 These were the people DHS 46:23.370 --> 46:25.109 at the time had actually federalized 46:25.110 --> 46:27.030 much of, of the national election, 46:28.920 --> 46:30.839 administration through this January 46:30.840 --> 46:32.130 6th, 2017, 46:33.390 --> 46:35.369 executive order from outgoing 46:35.370 --> 46:37.259 Obama DHS 46:37.260 --> 46:39.209 head Jeh Johnson, which 46:39.210 --> 46:41.069 essentially wrapped all 50 states up 46:41.070 --> 46:42.689 into a formal DHS partnership. 46:42.690 --> 46:44.579 So DHS was simultaneously in charge 46:44.580 --> 46:46.079 of the administration of the 46:46.080 --> 46:47.939 election in many respects, and the 46:47.940 --> 46:50.159 censorship of anyone who challenged 46:50.160 --> 46:52.049 the administration, 46:52.050 --> 46:53.969 of the election. It's just like, 46:53.970 --> 46:55.529 you know, putting essentially the 46:55.530 --> 46:57.389 defendant, of a 46:57.390 --> 46:59.249 trial, as the judge 46:59.250 --> 47:01.119 and jury of the trial. 47:01.120 --> 47:03.209 But you're not describing democracy. 47:03.210 --> 47:04.379 I mean, you're describing a country 47:04.380 --> 47:05.999 in which democracy is impossible. 47:06.000 --> 47:07.409 What I'm essentially describing is 47:07.410 --> 47:08.410 military rule. 47:09.450 --> 47:11.339 I mean what's happened with the rise 47:11.340 --> 47:13.319 of the censorship industry is 47:13.320 --> 47:15.119 a total inversion of the idea of 47:15.120 --> 47:16.229 democracy itself. 47:16.230 --> 47:18.059 You know, the democracy sort of 47:18.060 --> 47:19.919 draws its legitimacy from 47:19.920 --> 47:22.229 the idea that it is, 47:22.230 --> 47:24.360 rule by consent of 47:25.470 --> 47:26.609 the people being rule. 47:26.610 --> 47:28.139 That is, it's not really being ruled 47:28.140 --> 47:29.339 by an overlord, because the 47:29.340 --> 47:31.499 government is actually just our will 47:31.500 --> 47:33.449 expressed by our consent with who we 47:33.450 --> 47:34.450 vote for. 47:35.190 --> 47:37.229 The whole push after the 2016 47:37.230 --> 47:39.089 election and after Brexit 47:39.090 --> 47:40.649 and after a couple of other, you 47:40.650 --> 47:42.479 know, social media run 47:42.480 --> 47:43.889 elections that went the wrong way 47:43.890 --> 47:44.969 from. What the State Department 47:44.970 --> 47:46.739 wanted, like the 2016 Philippines 47:46.740 --> 47:48.599 election, was to 47:48.600 --> 47:50.669 completely invert everything 47:50.670 --> 47:52.559 that we described as 47:52.560 --> 47:54.209 being the underpinnings of a 47:54.210 --> 47:55.889 democratic society in order to deal 47:55.890 --> 47:56.879 with the threat of free speech on 47:56.880 --> 47:57.779 the internet. 47:57.780 --> 48:00.149 And what they essentially said is 48:00.150 --> 48:02.009 we need to redefine democracy from 48:02.010 --> 48:03.869 being about the will of the voters 48:03.870 --> 48:05.489 to being about the sanctity of 48:05.490 --> 48:07.259 democratic institutions. 48:07.260 --> 48:08.639 And who are the democratic 48:08.640 --> 48:10.469 institutions? Oh, it's us, you know, 48:10.470 --> 48:12.329 it's the military, it's NATO, 48:12.330 --> 48:14.159 it's the IMF and the World Bank. 48:14.160 --> 48:16.109 It's the mainstream 48:16.110 --> 48:18.209 media, who it is, 48:18.210 --> 48:19.169 the NGOs. 48:19.170 --> 48:21.119 And of course, these NGOs 48:21.120 --> 48:22.829 are largely State Department funded 48:22.830 --> 48:23.999 or IC funded. 48:24.000 --> 48:25.919 It's essentially all of the 48:25.920 --> 48:27.360 elite establishments, 48:28.500 --> 48:30.479 that were under threat from 48:30.480 --> 48:32.669 the rise of domestic populism 48:32.670 --> 48:35.069 that declared their own consensus 48:35.070 --> 48:36.719 to be the new definition of 48:36.720 --> 48:38.279 democracy. Because if you define 48:38.280 --> 48:39.689 democracy as being the strength of 48:39.690 --> 48:41.879 democratic institutions rather 48:41.880 --> 48:43.019 than a focus on the will of the 48:43.020 --> 48:44.909 voters, then what 48:44.910 --> 48:46.859 you're left with is essentially 48:46.860 --> 48:48.809 democracy is just the consensus 48:48.810 --> 48:50.489 building architecture within 48:51.750 --> 48:52.979 the democratic institutions 48:52.980 --> 48:54.179 themselves. And from their 48:54.180 --> 48:55.619 perspective, that takes a lot of 48:55.620 --> 48:57.509 work. I mean, I mean, 48:57.510 --> 48:59.579 the amount of work these people do. 48:59.580 --> 49:01.229 I mean, for example, we mentioned 49:01.230 --> 49:02.489 the Atlantic Council, which is one 49:02.490 --> 49:04.949 of these big coordinating mechanisms 49:04.950 --> 49:07.019 for the oil and gas industry 49:07.020 --> 49:09.179 in a region for the for the finance 49:09.180 --> 49:10.589 and the JPMorgan's in the 49:10.590 --> 49:12.269 BlackRock's in a region, for the 49:12.270 --> 49:13.739 NGOs in the region, for the media, 49:13.740 --> 49:15.239 in the region. All of these need to 49:15.240 --> 49:16.529 reach a consensus. 49:16.530 --> 49:17.759 And that process takes a lot of 49:17.760 --> 49:19.139 time. It takes a lot of work and a 49:19.140 --> 49:20.309 lot of negotiation. 49:20.310 --> 49:22.259 From their perspective, that's 49:22.260 --> 49:23.159 democracy. 49:23.160 --> 49:24.869 Democracy is getting the NGOs to 49:24.870 --> 49:26.739 agree with Blackrock, to agree 49:26.740 --> 49:28.589 with the Wall Street Journal, you 49:28.590 --> 49:30.899 know, to agree with, 49:30.900 --> 49:32.459 you know, the community and activist 49:32.460 --> 49:34.079 groups who are onboarded with 49:34.080 --> 49:35.729 respect to a particular initiative. 49:35.730 --> 49:37.919 That is the difficult vote building 49:37.920 --> 49:39.329 process from their perspective. 49:39.330 --> 49:41.279 At the end of the day, a bunch 49:41.280 --> 49:43.259 of, you know, populist groups decide 49:43.260 --> 49:45.179 that they like a truck driver 49:45.180 --> 49:47.009 who's popular on TikTok more 49:47.010 --> 49:48.629 than the, you know, carefully 49:48.630 --> 49:50.729 constructed consensus of 49:50.730 --> 49:52.769 the NATO military brass. 49:52.770 --> 49:54.509 Well, then, from their perspective, 49:54.510 --> 49:56.669 you know, that is now an attack 49:56.670 --> 49:58.109 on democracy. 49:58.110 --> 49:59.699 And this is what this whole branding 49:59.700 --> 50:01.349 effort was. And of course, democracy 50:01.350 --> 50:03.389 again, has that magic regime change 50:03.390 --> 50:05.489 predicate, where democracy 50:05.490 --> 50:07.319 is, is our magic watchword 50:07.320 --> 50:09.479 to be able to overthrow governments 50:09.480 --> 50:11.009 from the ground up in a sort of 50:11.010 --> 50:13.079 color revolution style, whole 50:13.080 --> 50:15.059 of society effort to toppling 50:15.060 --> 50:16.949 a democratically elected 50:16.950 --> 50:18.479 government from the inside. 50:18.480 --> 50:20.069 For example, as we did in Ukraine, 50:20.070 --> 50:21.599 Viktor Yanukovych was democratically 50:21.600 --> 50:23.369 elected by the Ukrainian people, 50:23.370 --> 50:25.079 like him or hate him. 50:25.080 --> 50:26.969 I'm not even issuing an opinion 50:26.970 --> 50:28.859 there. But the fact is, is we 50:28.860 --> 50:30.029 color revolutioned him out of 50:30.030 --> 50:31.769 office, we January 6th'd him out of 50:31.770 --> 50:33.509 office. Actually, to be frank, I 50:33.510 --> 50:35.369 mean with respect to... you had, you 50:35.370 --> 50:37.109 know, a State Department funded 50:37.110 --> 50:39.479 right sector thugs and, 50:39.480 --> 50:41.309 you know, $5 billion worth of 50:41.310 --> 50:42.899 civil society money pumped into this 50:42.900 --> 50:44.249 to overthrow a democratically 50:44.250 --> 50:45.509 elected government in the name of 50:45.510 --> 50:46.649 democracy. 50:46.650 --> 50:48.449 And they took that special set of 50:48.450 --> 50:49.949 skills home. 50:49.950 --> 50:52.439 And now it's here, 50:52.440 --> 50:54.239 perhaps potentially, to stay. 50:54.240 --> 50:56.609 And this is fundamentally changed 50:56.610 --> 50:58.829 the nature of American 50:58.830 --> 51:01.409 governance because of the threat of, 51:01.410 --> 51:03.089 you know, one small voice becoming 51:03.090 --> 51:04.459 popular on social media. 51:04.460 --> 51:05.549 May I ask you a question. 51:05.550 --> 51:07.679 So into that, that group 51:07.680 --> 51:09.599 of institutions that you say, 51:09.600 --> 51:12.210 now define democracy, the NGOs, 51:13.590 --> 51:15.209 foreign policy establishment, you 51:15.210 --> 51:17.969 included the mainstream media. 51:17.970 --> 51:20.219 Now, in 2021, 51:20.220 --> 51:22.559 the NSA broke into my private 51:22.560 --> 51:24.989 text apps and 51:24.990 --> 51:26.669 read them and then leaked them to 51:26.670 --> 51:28.229 the New York Times against me. 51:28.230 --> 51:30.269 That just happened again to me 51:30.270 --> 51:31.270 last week. 51:32.190 --> 51:34.259 And I'm wondering how common 51:34.260 --> 51:36.089 that is for the Intel 51:36.090 --> 51:38.219 agencies to work with 51:38.220 --> 51:39.869 so-called mainstream media like the 51:39.870 --> 51:41.999 New York Times to hurt 51:42.000 --> 51:43.049 their opponents. 51:43.050 --> 51:45.419 Well, that is the function of these 51:45.420 --> 51:47.429 interstitial, government 51:47.430 --> 51:48.779 funded non-governmental 51:48.780 --> 51:50.849 organizations and think tanks. 51:50.850 --> 51:52.139 Like, for example, we mentioned the 51:52.140 --> 51:53.729 Atlantic Council, which is, you 51:53.730 --> 51:54.689 know, NATO's think tank. 51:54.690 --> 51:55.859 But other groups like the Aspen 51:55.860 --> 51:57.779 Institute, which draws the lion's 51:57.780 --> 51:59.459 share of its funding from the State 51:59.460 --> 52:00.839 Department and other government 52:00.840 --> 52:01.949 agencies. You know, the Aspen 52:01.950 --> 52:03.539 Institute was busted doing the same 52:03.540 --> 52:05.039 thing with the Hunter Biden laptop 52:05.040 --> 52:05.939 censorship. 52:05.940 --> 52:07.469 You know, you had this strange 52:07.470 --> 52:09.479 situation where the FBI 52:09.480 --> 52:11.429 had advance knowledge of the pending 52:11.430 --> 52:13.049 publication of the Hunter Biden 52:13.050 --> 52:15.479 laptop story, and then, magically, 52:15.480 --> 52:17.339 the Aspen Institute, which 52:17.340 --> 52:19.499 is run by essentially former 52:19.500 --> 52:21.809 CIA, former NSA, 52:21.810 --> 52:23.909 former FBI, and then a bunch 52:23.910 --> 52:25.019 of sort of civil society 52:25.020 --> 52:26.969 organizations, all 52:26.970 --> 52:29.219 hold a mass, 52:29.220 --> 52:30.402 stakeholder censorship 52:31.710 --> 52:34.139 simulation, a three day, 52:34.140 --> 52:35.609 conference. You know, this came out 52:35.610 --> 52:36.839 and Yoel Roth was there. 52:36.840 --> 52:38.009 This was a big part of the Twitter 52:38.010 --> 52:40.019 file leaks. And it's been mentioned 52:40.020 --> 52:40.919 in multiple congressional 52:40.920 --> 52:43.019 investigations. But somehow 52:43.020 --> 52:44.020 the Aspen Institute, which 52:45.770 --> 52:47.599 is basically an 52:47.600 --> 52:49.759 addendum of the national security 52:49.760 --> 52:51.739 state got 52:51.740 --> 52:53.599 the exact same information that 52:53.600 --> 52:55.939 the national security state spied 52:55.940 --> 52:58.009 on journalists and political 52:58.010 --> 52:59.959 figures to obtain and 52:59.960 --> 53:01.489 not only leaked it, but then 53:01.490 --> 53:03.799 basically did a joint coordinated 53:03.800 --> 53:05.839 censorship simulator 53:05.840 --> 53:07.699 in September, two months before the 53:07.700 --> 53:09.589 election, in order, just like 53:09.590 --> 53:10.639 with the censorship of mail in 53:10.640 --> 53:12.799 ballots, to be in ready position 53:12.800 --> 53:15.139 to pre censor anyone 53:15.140 --> 53:17.599 online amplifying 53:17.600 --> 53:18.619 a news story that had not even 53:18.620 --> 53:19.159 broken yet. 53:19.160 --> 53:21.409 The Aspen Institute? 53:21.410 --> 53:22.789 So I mean, which is, by the way, 53:22.790 --> 53:24.183 I've spent my life in Washington'... 53:24.184 --> 53:25.184 Walter 53:26.270 --> 53:27.859 Isaacson, formerly of Time Magazine, 53:27.860 --> 53:29.749 ran it, for former president 53:29.750 --> 53:30.750 of CNN. 53:31.490 --> 53:33.259 I had no idea it was part of the 53:33.260 --> 53:34.279 national security state, I had no 53:34.280 --> 53:35.509 idea its funding came from the US 53:35.510 --> 53:36.539 government. 53:36.540 --> 53:37.519 This the first time I ever heard 53:37.520 --> 53:39.559 that. But given assuming 53:39.560 --> 53:41.209 what you're saying is true, it's a 53:41.210 --> 53:43.309 little weird that Walter Isaacson 53:43.310 --> 53:45.289 left Aspen Institute to 53:45.290 --> 53:47.558 write a biography of Elon Musk. 53:47.559 --> 53:48.559 Strange? 53:48.740 --> 53:49.740 Yeah. 53:51.020 --> 53:53.089 I don't know. I haven't read 53:53.090 --> 53:53.889 that book. 53:53.890 --> 53:55.879 I from what I've heard from 53:55.880 --> 53:57.229 people, it's a relatively fair 53:57.230 --> 53:58.039 treatment. 53:58.040 --> 54:00.319 I, you know, just total speculation. 54:00.320 --> 54:02.449 But I suspect that Walter Isaacson 54:02.450 --> 54:04.309 has struggled with this issue and 54:04.310 --> 54:06.139 may not even firmly fall in one 54:06.140 --> 54:07.999 particular place, in the 54:08.000 --> 54:09.229 sense that, you know, Walter 54:09.230 --> 54:11.509 Isaacson did a series of interviews 54:11.510 --> 54:13.489 of Rick Stengel, 54:13.490 --> 54:15.049 actually, with the Atlantic 54:15.050 --> 54:17.419 Council, in other settings, 54:17.420 --> 54:18.949 where he interviewed Rick Stengel, 54:18.950 --> 54:20.868 specifically on the issue of you 54:23.150 --> 54:24.529 know, the need to get rid of the 54:24.530 --> 54:26.239 First Amendment and the threat that 54:26.240 --> 54:27.979 free speech on social media poses to 54:27.980 --> 54:28.909 democracy. 54:28.910 --> 54:30.169 Now, at the time, I was very 54:30.170 --> 54:32.179 concerned. This was between 2017 54:32.180 --> 54:33.679 and 2019 when he did these Rick 54:33.680 --> 54:34.579 Stengel interviews. 54:34.580 --> 54:36.259 I was very concerned because 54:36.260 --> 54:38.239 Isaacson expressed what seemed 54:38.240 --> 54:40.729 to me to be a highly sympathetic, 54:40.730 --> 54:43.219 view about the Rick Stengel, 54:43.220 --> 54:45.049 you know, perspective on killing 54:45.050 --> 54:46.099 the First Amendment. 54:46.100 --> 54:47.929 Now, he didn't formally endorse 54:47.930 --> 54:49.369 that position, but it left me very 54:49.370 --> 54:50.869 skittish about Isaacson. 54:50.870 --> 54:52.729 But what I should say is, at 54:52.730 --> 54:54.619 the time, I don't think very 54:54.620 --> 54:56.329 many people, in fact, I know 54:56.330 --> 54:58.429 virtually nobody in the country, 55:00.110 --> 55:01.969 had any idea how deep 55:01.970 --> 55:03.859 the rabbit hole went when it came 55:03.860 --> 55:05.149 to the construction of the 55:05.150 --> 55:07.519 censorship industry and 55:07.520 --> 55:09.199 how deep the tentacles had grown 55:09.200 --> 55:10.699 within the military, in the national 55:10.700 --> 55:12.799 security state, in order to Bouie 55:12.800 --> 55:14.659 and consolidated much of that, 55:14.660 --> 55:16.639 frankly, did not even come to public 55:16.640 --> 55:17.740 light until even 55:18.800 --> 55:19.969 last year. 55:19.970 --> 55:21.199 You know, frankly, some of that was 55:21.200 --> 55:23.179 galvanized by Elon Musks acquisition 55:23.180 --> 55:24.559 in the Twitter files and the 55:24.560 --> 55:26.089 Republican turnover in the House 55:26.090 --> 55:26.959 that allowed these multiple 55:26.960 --> 55:29.149 investigations, the lawsuits 55:29.150 --> 55:30.139 like Missouri v. Biden in the 55:30.140 --> 55:31.429 discovery process there. 55:32.510 --> 55:33.979 And, you know, multiple other things 55:33.980 --> 55:35.209 like the Disinformation Governance 55:35.210 --> 55:36.889 Board, who, by the way, the interim 55:36.890 --> 55:38.735 head of that, the head of that, Nina 55:38.736 --> 55:41.089 Jankowicz, got her start, 55:41.090 --> 55:43.009 in the censorship industry from this 55:43.010 --> 55:44.899 exact same, 55:44.900 --> 55:46.789 clandestine intelligence 55:46.790 --> 55:48.589 community censorship network created 55:48.590 --> 55:50.689 after the 2014 Crimea situation. 55:50.690 --> 55:52.759 Nina Jankowicz, when her name came 55:52.760 --> 55:54.589 up in 2022, is part of 55:54.590 --> 55:56.869 the Disinformation Governance Board. 55:56.870 --> 55:58.279 I almost fell out of my chair 55:58.280 --> 56:00.439 because I had been tracking Nina's 56:00.440 --> 56:02.629 network for almost five 56:02.630 --> 56:03.979 years at that point, when her when 56:03.980 --> 56:05.989 her name came up as part of the 56:05.990 --> 56:07.999 UK inner cluster cell 56:08.000 --> 56:09.979 of a busted clandestine 56:09.980 --> 56:11.419 operation to censor the internet 56:11.420 --> 56:13.459 called the Integrity Initiative, 56:13.460 --> 56:15.559 which was created by the UK Foreign 56:15.560 --> 56:17.389 Office and was backed 56:17.390 --> 56:19.909 by NATO Political Affairs 56:19.910 --> 56:22.189 unit, in order to 56:22.190 --> 56:24.109 carry out this thing 56:24.110 --> 56:24.889 that we talked about at the 56:24.890 --> 56:26.779 beginning of this, of this dialog, 56:26.780 --> 56:29.179 the NATO, sort of psychological 56:29.180 --> 56:31.789 inoculation, and, 56:31.790 --> 56:33.619 the ability to kill so-called 56:33.620 --> 56:35.749 Russian propaganda or rising 56:35.750 --> 56:37.729 political groups who wanted, 56:37.730 --> 56:39.679 to maintain energy relations 56:39.680 --> 56:41.479 with Russia at a time when the U.S. 56:41.480 --> 56:43.339 was trying to kill the Nord Stream 56:43.340 --> 56:45.029 and another, pipeline relation. 56:45.030 --> 56:46.030 Well, they did that. 56:48.860 --> 56:50.089 Nina Jankowicz was a part of this 56:50.090 --> 56:50.869 outfit. 56:50.870 --> 56:52.699 And then who is 56:52.700 --> 56:54.499 the head of it after Nina Jankowicz 56:54.500 --> 56:56.059 went down. It was Michael Chertoff, 56:56.060 --> 56:57.559 and Michael Chertoff was running the 56:57.560 --> 56:59.479 Aspen Institute Cyber Group, and 56:59.480 --> 57:01.249 then the Aspen Institute then goes 57:01.250 --> 57:03.049 on to be the censorship simulator 57:03.050 --> 57:04.489 for the Hunter Biden laptop story. 57:04.490 --> 57:06.469 And then two years later, Chertoff 57:06.470 --> 57:07.669 is then the head of the 57:07.670 --> 57:09.259 disinformation governance board 57:09.260 --> 57:10.939 after Nina was forced to step down. 57:10.940 --> 57:12.829 Of course, Michael 57:12.830 --> 57:15.139 Chertoff was the chairman at BAE 57:15.140 --> 57:16.140 I'm sorry. 57:16.510 --> 57:18.079 And Michael Chertoff was the 57:18.080 --> 57:19.909 chairman of the largest 57:19.910 --> 57:21.199 military contractor in Europe, 57:23.060 --> 57:24.079 BAE Military. 57:24.080 --> 57:25.080 So you've 57:26.660 --> 57:28.219 blown my mind so many times in this 57:28.220 --> 57:29.299 conversation that I'm going to need 57:29.300 --> 57:31.429 a nap directly after it's done. 57:31.430 --> 57:33.319 So I've just got two more questions 57:33.320 --> 57:34.269 for you. One short, one a little 57:34.270 --> 57:35.270 longer. 57:35.990 --> 57:36.829 The short one is, for people who've made it 57:36.830 --> 57:38.659 this far i- an hour in - and want 57:38.660 --> 57:40.549 to know more about this topic. 57:40.550 --> 57:41.689 And by the way, I hope you'll come 57:41.690 --> 57:43.030 back whenever you have the time 57:44.050 --> 57:45.129 to explore different threads of the 57:45.130 --> 57:45.909 story. 57:45.910 --> 57:47.919 But for people who want to do 57:47.920 --> 57:49.989 research on their own, how can 57:49.990 --> 57:52.569 your research on this 57:52.570 --> 57:53.889 be found on the internet? 57:53.890 --> 57:55.719 Sure. So our foundation is 57:55.720 --> 57:56.720 FoundationForFreedomOnline.com. 57:58.660 --> 58:01.089 We publish all manner 58:01.090 --> 58:02.799 of reports on every aspect of the 58:02.800 --> 58:03.849 censorship industry 58:05.020 --> 58:06.219 from what we talked about with the 58:06.220 --> 58:07.329 role of the military industrial 58:07.330 --> 58:09.129 complex in national security, state 58:09.130 --> 58:11.199 to what the universities are doing 58:11.200 --> 58:13.239 to, you know, like I sometimes refer 58:13.240 --> 58:15.069 to as digital MKUltra, there's 58:15.070 --> 58:16.239 just the field of basically the 58:16.240 --> 58:18.099 science of censorship and how 58:18.100 --> 58:19.389 and the funding of these 58:19.390 --> 58:21.819 psychological manipulation methods 58:21.820 --> 58:23.499 in order to nudge people into 58:23.500 --> 58:24.699 different belief systems, as they 58:24.700 --> 58:26.469 did with Covid, as they did with 58:26.470 --> 58:28.449 energy and every 58:28.450 --> 58:29.979 sensitive policy issues, what they 58:29.980 --> 58:31.779 essentially had an ambition for. 58:31.780 --> 58:32.780 But my 58:33.880 --> 58:34.659 FoundationForFreedomOnline.com 58:34.660 --> 58:35.559 website is one way. 58:35.560 --> 58:37.749 The other way is just on X. 58:37.750 --> 58:40.089 My handle is at Mike Benz Cyber. 58:40.090 --> 58:41.949 I'm very active there and 58:41.950 --> 58:43.839 publish a lot of long form video and 58:43.840 --> 58:45.399 written content on all this. 58:45.400 --> 58:46.989 I think it's one of the most 58:46.990 --> 58:48.849 important issues in the world today. 58:48.850 --> 58:50.169 It certainly is. And so that leads 58:50.170 --> 58:52.359 directly and seamlessly to my final 58:52.360 --> 58:54.339 question, which 58:54.340 --> 58:55.569 is about X. 58:55.570 --> 58:56.919 And I'm not just saying this because 58:56.920 --> 58:58.359 I post content there, but I think 58:58.360 --> 59:00.129 objectively it's the last big 59:00.130 --> 59:02.229 platform that's free or sort 59:02.230 --> 59:03.819 of free or more free. 59:03.820 --> 59:04.820 You post there too. 59:06.040 --> 59:07.359 But, you know, we're at the very 59:07.360 --> 59:09.549 beginning of an election year 59:09.550 --> 59:11.319 with a couple of different wars 59:11.320 --> 59:12.320 unfolding simultaneously in 59:14.200 --> 59:16.569 2024. So do you expect 59:16.570 --> 59:18.789 that that platform can stay free 59:18.790 --> 59:20.409 for the duration of this year? 59:20.410 --> 59:21.410 It's under an 59:22.270 --> 59:23.589 extraordinary amount of pressure, 59:23.590 --> 59:24.819 and that pressure is going to 59:24.820 --> 59:26.739 continue to mount as the election 59:26.740 --> 59:27.740 approaches. 59:28.660 --> 59:30.069 Elon Musk is a very unique 59:30.070 --> 59:32.109 individual, and he 59:32.110 --> 59:34.149 has a unique buffer, perhaps 59:34.150 --> 59:35.229 when it comes to the national 59:35.230 --> 59:37.089 security state, because the national 59:37.090 --> 59:38.469 security state is actually quite 59:38.470 --> 59:39.762 reliant on Elon 59:41.740 --> 59:43.329 Musk properties, whether that's for 59:43.330 --> 59:45.699 the, the electrical, 59:45.700 --> 59:47.019 you know, the sort of the green 59:47.020 --> 59:48.849 revolution when it comes to Tesla 59:48.850 --> 59:50.919 and, and the battery technology 59:50.920 --> 59:52.419 there when it comes, when it comes 59:52.420 --> 59:54.459 to Space X, the State Department 59:54.460 --> 59:56.299 is hugely dependent 59:56.300 --> 59:58.149 on, on space, 59:58.150 --> 01:00:01.059 because of its unbelievable, 01:00:01.060 --> 01:00:03.039 you sort of pioneering and 01:00:03.040 --> 01:00:04.929 saturating presence in the field of 01:00:04.930 --> 01:00:07.269 low Earth orbit satellites 01:00:07.270 --> 01:00:09.099 that, are basically how our 01:00:09.100 --> 01:00:10.959 telecom system runs 01:00:10.960 --> 01:00:12.579 to things like Starlink. 01:00:12.580 --> 01:00:13.749 There are dependencies that the 01:00:13.750 --> 01:00:15.639 national security state has on Elon 01:00:15.640 --> 01:00:17.769 Musk. I'm not sure he'd have as much 01:00:17.770 --> 01:00:19.869 room to negotiate if he had 01:00:19.870 --> 01:00:21.099 become the world's richest man, 01:00:21.100 --> 01:00:22.929 selling, you know, 01:00:22.930 --> 01:00:23.949 at a lemonade stand. 01:00:25.300 --> 01:00:27.309 And if the national security 01:00:27.310 --> 01:00:28.989 state goes too hard on him by 01:00:28.990 --> 01:00:30.789 invoking something like CFIUS to 01:00:30.790 --> 01:00:31.929 sort of nationalize some of these 01:00:31.930 --> 01:00:33.339 properties, I think the shockwave 01:00:33.340 --> 01:00:34.389 that it would send to the 01:00:34.390 --> 01:00:35.919 international investor community 01:00:35.920 --> 01:00:37.869 would be irrecoverable at a time 01:00:37.870 --> 01:00:39.099 when we're engaged in great power 01:00:39.100 --> 01:00:40.239 competition. 01:00:40.240 --> 01:00:42.009 So they're trying to kill, you know, 01:00:42.010 --> 01:00:43.749 they're trying to sort of induce a, 01:00:43.750 --> 01:00:45.189 I think, a sort of corporate regime 01:00:45.190 --> 01:00:47.289 change through, a series 01:00:47.290 --> 01:00:48.969 of things involving a sort of death 01:00:48.970 --> 01:00:50.619 by a thousand paper cuts. 01:00:50.620 --> 01:00:52.989 I think there are 7 or 8 different 01:00:52.990 --> 01:00:55.239 Justice Department or SEC 01:00:55.240 --> 01:00:57.309 or FTC investigations into Elon 01:00:57.310 --> 01:00:59.679 Musk properties that all started, 01:00:59.680 --> 01:01:01.929 after his acquisition of 01:01:01.930 --> 01:01:03.279 X. But then what they're trying to 01:01:03.280 --> 01:01:04.749 do right now is what I call the 01:01:04.750 --> 01:01:07.039 transatlantic flank attack 2.0. 01:01:07.040 --> 01:01:09.369 You know, we talked in this dialog 01:01:09.370 --> 01:01:11.109 about how the censorship industry 01:01:11.110 --> 01:01:12.969 really got its start when a bunch of 01:01:12.970 --> 01:01:14.769 State Department exiles, who were 01:01:14.770 --> 01:01:16.509 expecting promotions, took their 01:01:16.510 --> 01:01:18.129 special set of skills in coercing 01:01:18.130 --> 01:01:20.019 European countries to pass 01:01:20.020 --> 01:01:21.909 sanctions on themselves to cut off 01:01:21.910 --> 01:01:24.129 their own leg despite themselves, 01:01:24.130 --> 01:01:25.749 in order to pass sanctions on 01:01:25.750 --> 01:01:27.549 Russia. They ran back that same 01:01:27.550 --> 01:01:29.469 playbook with doing a road show 01:01:29.470 --> 01:01:30.939 for censorship instead for 01:01:30.940 --> 01:01:32.799 sanctions. We are now witnessing, 01:01:32.800 --> 01:01:34.569 you know, transatlantic flank attack 01:01:34.570 --> 01:01:36.399 2.0, if you will, which is 01:01:36.400 --> 01:01:37.989 because they have lost a lot of 01:01:37.990 --> 01:01:38.990 their federal government powers 01:01:40.570 --> 01:01:42.489 to do this same censorship operation 01:01:42.490 --> 01:01:44.679 they been doing from 2018 to 2022, 01:01:44.680 --> 01:01:46.629 in part because the House has 01:01:46.630 --> 01:01:48.159 totally turned on them, in part 01:01:48.160 --> 01:01:49.359 because of the media, in part 01:01:49.360 --> 01:01:50.419 because Missouri v. 01:01:50.420 --> 01:01:52.359 Biden, which won a slam dunk 01:01:52.360 --> 01:01:53.919 case actually banning government 01:01:53.920 --> 01:01:55.509 censorship at the trial court and 01:01:55.510 --> 01:01:56.904 appellate court levels, is now 01:01:58.210 --> 01:01:59.559 before the Supreme Court. 01:01:59.560 --> 01:02:01.149 They've now moved into two 01:02:01.150 --> 01:02:02.079 strategies. 01:02:02.080 --> 01:02:04.359 One of them is state 01:02:04.360 --> 01:02:06.249 level censorship laws. 01:02:06.250 --> 01:02:08.139 California just passed a new law 01:02:08.140 --> 01:02:09.519 which the censorship industry 01:02:09.520 --> 01:02:11.319 totally drove from start to finish 01:02:11.320 --> 01:02:12.219 around... 01:02:12.220 --> 01:02:13.220 They call it platform 01:02:14.140 --> 01:02:15.999 accountability and transparency, 01:02:16.000 --> 01:02:18.309 which is basically forcing 01:02:18.310 --> 01:02:20.169 Elon Musk to give 01:02:20.170 --> 01:02:22.089 over the kind of narrative 01:02:22.090 --> 01:02:24.129 mapping data that these 01:02:24.130 --> 01:02:26.259 CIA conduits and Pentagon cutouts 01:02:26.260 --> 01:02:28.179 were using to create these weapons 01:02:28.180 --> 01:02:29.739 of mass deletion, these abilities to 01:02:29.740 --> 01:02:31.269 just censor everything at scale 01:02:31.270 --> 01:02:32.469 because they had all the internal 01:02:32.470 --> 01:02:33.399 platform data. 01:02:33.400 --> 01:02:34.719 Elon Musk took that away. 01:02:34.720 --> 01:02:36.039 They're using state laws like this 01:02:36.040 --> 01:02:37.269 new California law to crack that 01:02:37.270 --> 01:02:39.369 open. But the major threat right now 01:02:39.370 --> 01:02:41.199 is the threat from Europe, 01:02:41.200 --> 01:02:42.849 with, with, you know, something 01:02:42.850 --> 01:02:44.909 called the eU Digital 01:02:44.910 --> 01:02:46.829 Services Act, which was 01:02:46.830 --> 01:02:48.689 cooked up in tandem with folks 01:02:48.690 --> 01:02:50.789 like Newsguard, which is run by, 01:02:50.790 --> 01:02:52.199 you know, which has has a board of 01:02:52.200 --> 01:02:53.393 Michael Hayden, head of the CIA, 01:02:53.394 --> 01:02:54.759 NSA, four star general. 01:02:54.760 --> 01:02:57.059 Rick Stengel is on that board. 01:02:57.060 --> 01:02:57.899 You know, from from the State 01:02:57.900 --> 01:02:59.519 Department's propaganda office. 01:02:59.520 --> 01:03:01.499 Tom Ridge is on that board from 01:03:01.500 --> 01:03:03.239 the Department of Homeland Security. 01:03:03.240 --> 01:03:04.829 Oh, and Anders Fogh Rasmussen is on 01:03:04.830 --> 01:03:05.669 that board. 01:03:05.670 --> 01:03:07.559 He was the, the general secretary of 01:03:07.560 --> 01:03:09.209 NATO under the Obama administration. 01:03:09.210 --> 01:03:11.579 So you have NATO, the CIA, the NSA, 01:03:11.580 --> 01:03:12.929 four star general, DHS, and the 01:03:12.930 --> 01:03:15.179 State Department working with the 01:03:15.180 --> 01:03:17.429 EU to craft the censorship 01:03:17.430 --> 01:03:18.809 laws that now are the largest 01:03:18.810 --> 01:03:20.626 existential threat to X 01:03:20.627 --> 01:03:21.627 other than potential advertiser 01:03:22.290 --> 01:03:24.059 boycotts, because there is now 01:03:24.060 --> 01:03:26.039 disinformation is now banned as 01:03:26.040 --> 01:03:27.899 a matter of law in, in 01:03:27.900 --> 01:03:29.459 the EU. And the EU is a bigger 01:03:29.460 --> 01:03:30.959 market for X than the US. 01:03:30.960 --> 01:03:32.759 There's only 300 million some people 01:03:32.760 --> 01:03:34.259 in the U.S. there's 450 million in 01:03:34.260 --> 01:03:35.399 Europe. 01:03:35.400 --> 01:03:37.349 X is now forced to comply with this 01:03:37.350 --> 01:03:39.299 brand new law that just got ratified 01:03:39.300 --> 01:03:41.159 this year, where they 01:03:41.160 --> 01:03:42.989 either need to forfeit 6% of their 01:03:42.990 --> 01:03:45.029 global annual revenue to the EU 01:03:45.030 --> 01:03:46.979 to maintain operations there or 01:03:46.980 --> 01:03:48.989 put in place essentially the kind 01:03:48.990 --> 01:03:51.029 of, you know, CIA bumper 01:03:51.030 --> 01:03:53.189 cars, if you will, that I've 01:03:53.190 --> 01:03:54.569 been describing over the course of 01:03:54.570 --> 01:03:56.819 this, in order to have an internal 01:03:56.820 --> 01:03:58.949 mechanism to censor anything 01:03:58.950 --> 01:04:01.109 that the EU, which is just a proxy 01:04:01.110 --> 01:04:02.849 for NATO, deems to be 01:04:02.850 --> 01:04:03.689 disinformation. 01:04:03.690 --> 01:04:05.339 And you can bet with 65 elections 01:04:05.340 --> 01:04:07.829 around the globe this year, 01:04:07.830 --> 01:04:09.239 you can you can predict every single 01:04:09.240 --> 01:04:10.259 time what they're going to define 01:04:10.260 --> 01:04:11.219 disinformation as. 01:04:11.220 --> 01:04:12.629 So that's the main the main fight 01:04:12.630 --> 01:04:14.369 right now is, is dealing with the 01:04:14.370 --> 01:04:15.599 transatlantic flank attack from 01:04:15.600 --> 01:04:16.859 Europe. 01:04:16.860 --> 01:04:18.689 I said this five times, but that's 01:04:18.690 --> 01:04:19.799 just one of the most remarkable 01:04:19.800 --> 01:04:20.669 stories I've ever heard. 01:04:20.670 --> 01:04:22.439 And I'm grateful to you for bringing 01:04:22.440 --> 01:04:24.149 it to us. Mike Benz, Executive 01:04:24.150 --> 01:04:25.289 Director of the Foundation for 01:04:25.290 --> 01:04:26.939 Freedom Online. 01:04:26.940 --> 01:04:27.960 And I hope we see you again. 01:04:29.930 --> 01:04:30.930 Thanks, Tucker.