As leaks expose UK op to ‘weaken’ Russia, suppression of Grayzone reporting backfires

Twitter added an unprecedented “warning” to Max Blumenthal’s Grayzone article about explosive leaks revealing a massive UK government anti-Russia propaganda operation involving Reuters, BBC, and Bellingcat. Instead of suppressing the article, it went viral.

After The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal reported on newly leaked documents exposing a massive UK government propaganda campaign against Russia, Twitter added an unprecedented warning label that the material “may have been obtained through hacking.” Although Twitter may have intended to restrict the article, the warning had the opposite effect: it quickly went viral.

Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté discuss the suppression effort and the damning UK government leaks at the heart of it. After years of fear-mongering about Russian interference in Western democracies, these UK government files expose a sprawling propaganda effort that explicitly aims to “weaken” Russia. The documents reveal that this propaganda campaign has also enlisted major media outlets Reuters and the BBC, as well as the NATO member state-funded website Bellingcat.

Guest: Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone and author of The Management of Savagery.

Links:

Max Blumenthal: Leaked docs expose massive Syria propaganda operation waged by Western govt contractors and media

Ben Norton reports on the UK government’s Syria leaks: Leaked docs expose massive Syria propaganda operation waged by Western govt contractors and media

Ben Norton discusses UK’s Syria leaks on Pushback: Leaks expose massive Western propaganda op in Syria dirty war