A new report from Aaron Maté alleges the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations has been assisting the Ukrainian government in its efforts to censor dissent on Twitter by throttling content from Western journalists like Maté. This report follows recent revelations made by Maté in the “Twitter Files,” further substantiating FBI malfeasance at home and abroad.
This information comes as corporate media reckons with the complicated relationship some in the Ukrainian government and military have with imagery associated with Nazi imagery, leftover from the region’s ties to Central Europe and the Soviet Union.
Allegations of corruption within the Ukrainian government are not new. The Ukrainian government’s corruption affects the lives of its people in very tangible ways, like in 2014 when the country moved away from pro-Russian leadership as a result of the 2014 Euromaidan protests.
The Euromaidan protests began in Ukraine with then-President Viktor Yanukovych reneging on a free trade deal arranged between Ukraine and the European Union, resulting in a massive wave of protests against perceived government corruption, oligarchy, and the strengthening of ties to Russia. Corruption was doubly alleged, by skeptics of U.S. intervention and pro-Russian elements in the eastern portions of Ukraine, after leaked calls revealed that Victoria Nuland, an American diplomat, claimed and later demonstrated to have influence over the selection process of the state’s next leader.
Much like the FBI’s involvement in quashing any unsanctioned opinions on platforms such as Twitter, to mention nothing of the Ukrainian government’s targeting of ethnic Russians and religious officials, the United States also played a role in fomenting the Euromaidan protests and formatting the administration that would succeed it which eventually paved the way for President Zelensky to enter office.
According to the new report, the FBI claimed a series of social media accounts “are suspected by [Ukrainian intelligence] in spreading fear and disinformation” and wanted to track those who “disseminate disinformation and fake news to inaccurately reflect events in Ukraine.”
“Of all of the #TwitterFiles stories,” the first Twitter Files reporter, Matt Taibbi, wrote in a post, “this one is perhaps the most damning about the FBI.”
As far as it has been defined in the leaked emails, “disinformation” appears to be nothing more than digital or print media contradicting pro-Ukraine narratives instead of misleading or nonfactual information.
Twitter responded to the FBI by saying that it would review the requested accounts but expressed skepticism over the inclusion of various American and Canadian journalists in the agency’s emails.
“The FBI declined to answer my questions about its aid to Ukrainian intelligence censorship efforts,” Maté wrote in a long Twitter thread exposing the Bureau.
“While we appreciate your inquiry,” a response from the FBI reads, “as a matter of practice we do not confirm, deny, or otherwise comment on specific interactions nor confirm the veracity of correspondence.”