Gravitas Plus: Why the West is winning the Information War

hello and welcome to gravitas plus I'm palki Sharma upadhya it's been two weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine the military battle is still on and so is the Battle of narratives an information War the adversaries are the same the Russian State media and Western media Outlets they've both weaponized information for the benefit of their respective governments so one has to navigate things rather carefully to get an accurate account of what is unfolding even specific battle stories are questionable for instance the number of casualties headlines in Western media say that Putin's forces are being humiliated that they've suffered heavy casualties most of them are going by Ukraine's figures they say 11 000 Russian soldiers have been killed that is at least 22 times higher than what the Kremlin says these wild variations also extend to accounts of Destruction on both sides Ukraine says it has destroyed more than 300 Russian tanks Russia says it has destroyed around 900 Ukrainian tanks both sides say the other is lying these differences illustrate the kind of story each side wants to offer to its own people Ukraine wants to encourage its people through the tale of a successful resistance Russia wants to convince its people through stories of its military gains and neither wants to talk about the casualties in their own ranks so which side does one really believe verifying their figures is a tough job this is an armed conflict remember access to combat zones is limited there are no independent Observers so we don't know how much of the information is being filtered modified blocked or concocted multiple storylines multiple narratives and counter narratives are doing the rounds the first one is that the ukrainians are successfully defending their land how then did Russian troops reach the outskirts of Kiev in just two days the second narrative is that Russian troops are making slow progress how can they gauge the pace of Russia's progress with no access to Russia's battle plans there's also a third narrative which is essentially a moral binary whatever the West says is right and anyone who does not accept this narrative is trying to undermine Ukraine sovereignty now all of these narratives can be challenged should be challenged in the age of social media unfiltered information shapes opinions what's worse social media is not a Level Playing Field it is controlled by the West I'm talking about tech giants like Twitter Facebook YouTube Google and apple these companies these private companies have openly aligned themselves with the West they're pushing the Western narrative and restricting Russia's side of the story and this is problematic I will tell you why first of all let's tell you what they've done they've sanctioned Russia digitally remember no government sanction Force tech companies to cut ties with Russia there was no legal or regulatory obligation these companies just decided to take aside based on the perspective of their stakeholders Google has barred Russian State media from monetizing content on its platforms Apple has gone one step further further it has suspended all product sales in Russia cut Russians of Apple play and other services it has also blocked Arty and Sputnik from its App Store everywhere outside Russia then we have Twitter it is labeling all posts by the Russian State media adding a warning of sorts on pro-russian stories then we come to meta the parent company of Facebook it has left its contemporaries way behind I'll show you a report it was released on Friday it says Facebook and Instagram will allow posts calling for violence against Russians and their President Vladimir Putin isn't that Criminal won't this promote hate want this inside hostility against all Russians these Tech Giants are overstepping their purpose deciding when it's okay to call for violence and when it's not and this sets a wrong precedent it also raises strategic questions for other countries what if America were the aggressor in this conflict what if the U.S had invaded another country which they have in the past would these Tech Giants have done the same look at this map now it shows all the countries that the United States has either invaded or been militarily involved in do you know how many there are the U.S has invaded or fought in at least 84 of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations and none of this none of what I've just told you justifies Russia's actions The Invasion is wrong and criminal no two ways about it what I want to underline here is the hypocrisy of American institutions The Selective approach of big Tech in 2021 three American rights groups released a report it said that instead of staying neutral big Tech made huge profits from America's war on terror especially Facebook Google Microsoft and Amazon they were awarded 44.5 billion dollars in contracts 44.5 billion from the Pentagon and the U.S Department of Homeland Security what were these contracts about aiding the U.S military in its operations providing them with digital tools that can be used in Wars what kind of tools crucial databases Cloud Computing Services surveillance drone technology even pushing narratives the report says that Facebook alone sold 350 000 worth of advertising to promote America's federally funded extremism watch it covers stories on violent extremism Trends in Islamic Nations Facebook helped this government-owned platform promote these stories and this was just one contract this report says that there were hundreds of other contracts and subcontracts that were awarded to American Tech Giants yet to be made public just to be clear we're talking about platforms that have a direct line to the hearts and minds of billions of people the world over 2.7 billion people use Facebook daily 206 million people use Twitter daily YouTube has won 22 million daily active users imagine the kind of reach and potential big Tech has in manipulating Global opinion about America's actions in controlling conversations about a conflict America is involved in things get murkier when you look at who's running these platforms a report by another U.S Rights group says that hundreds of former U.S government officials are currently serving in key positions at Big tech companies this includes officials from the Department of Defense the Department of Homeland Security and Justice the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation this is Jared Cohen he was a policy planner at the U.S state Department he currently runs jigsaw a technology incubator created by Google to develop counter-terrorism tools for social media platforms this is Steve pandolides he worked at the FBI for 20 years he's currently the director of security at Amazon web services this is Joseph D rozek he worked at the Department of Defense he now works at Microsoft where he specializes in quote-unquote information sharing and these are just a few names there are many many more Reports say there's a revolving door of sorts between big Tech and U.S government agencies countless security officials and policy makers pigeonholing information to suit American interests they say whoever controls the flow of information controls the world there could be no better description of what's happening right now Russia is the aggressor in the conflict in Ukraine yes but the West's Monopoly on information flow is making things complex we cannot take every story on face value we cannot confuse visibility with transparency not until The Gatekeepers of the world's information keep Global interests above their own God

Channel: WION

Views: 1,429,607

Keywords: ukraine, russia ukraine, ukraine war, ukraine russia, russia, russia ukraine war, russia declares war on ukraine, russia vs ukraine, russia and ukraine, russia war on ukraine, ukraine invasion, ukraine vs russia, ukraine russia conflict, ukraine russia war, russia war ukraine, russia vs ukraine war update, russia ukraine world war, russia ukraine war Impact, Big Tech, Information war, West, Social media, Misinformation, Propaganda, WION, Gravitas Plus, Palki Sharma Upadhyay

Id: s4Kttb1WaJE

Length: 7min 45sec (465 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 12 2022