The Control of Information
How the rich and powerful shape the media and control your mind. By Judith Brown
NGOs, think tanks, spies, and censorship policies.
“I wonder what would happen if everyone suddenly woke up together and realized they’d been living in an invisible prison run by greedy psychopaths.”― Sol Luckman, Cali the Destroyer
This week’s article exposes activities of large British NGOs that are part of the disinformation industry, that work with UK and foreign governments. Many have close relationships with intelligence services. They all have a large reach in censoring opinions, and smearing people and organisations whose opinions they do no support.
The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
According to the website of CCDH, its mission is to protect human rights and civil liberties online. It was founded in 2019 and is registered by Companies House as a private company limited by guarantee. In 2021 a US branch of CCDH was registered as a not-for-profit organisation and according to tax records, CCDH received income of $1.47 million in its first year of operating in USA. Its UK accounts were not available on Companies House website but CCDH website states it is funded by philanthropic associations and individual donors. CCDH claims it does not accept money from social media companies. Despite calls for CCDH to disclose its funders and its interactions with social media, no response has been received[i]. Its website describes its functions as research, campaigns, communications, and partnerships with policy makers, and on its website emphasis in on online safety and reforming information systems[ii].
CCDH is headed by Imran Ahmed, previously a political adviser to various Labour politicians. Ahmed is also associated with a UK fact check platform, Infotagion, whose supporters also include many government officials[iii]. According to investigative journalist Paul Thacker, Ahmed left the Labour Party in 2019 to run two ‘dark money groups’, Stop Funding Fake News (SFFN) and the CCDH. However the first time this organisation came to public attention was in 2021 when it produced a report that resulted in Twitter taking action on accounts named in the CCDH report, including Robert F. Kennedy a US presidential candidate, doctors, and health professionals. The report was cited by White House press secretary, who stated that twelve people were producing 65% of what was described as ‘anti-vaccine disinformation’ on social media platforms[iv]. Although a Facebook executive stated that the report was free of evidence, anti-vax’ was not defined, and CCDH failed to explain how they came up with numbers and conclusions, the narrative hardened. Despite the lack of evidence, Facebook accounts belonging to these individuals were removed[v].
The SFFN has been instrumental in diverting adverting revenue away from unfavoured news outlets, or demonetarising them, contributing to the decline of the left-wing Canary that then supported the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn[vi]. A spokesperson for the Canary pointed out that they were fully regulated, whereas SFFN operated in the shadows, without any regulation or requirement to disclose funders. Canary also stated out that SFFN was launched by Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.[vii]
A journalist named Paul Holden reported that he had obtained leaked documents on CCDH going back several years. Three tactics of CCDH stand out: to smear opponents with accusations of bigotry or homophobia; use of guilt by association narratives; and close coordination with incurious mainstream media. Holden alleged that CCDH attacks those on the left and the right. Holden quoted journalist Branko Marcetic of Jacobin who claimed that Ahmed alleged that everyone from Jeremy Corbyn to Donald Trump, to the Leave supporters, the Gilets Jaunes and the ‘alt right’ were a single movement allied to ‘hate’. All of these named groups and individuals were critical of CCDH’s brand[viii].
Centre for Information Resilience (CIR)
CIR that claims to be a counter-disinformation unit, but clearly has ties to British and foreign intelligence. The London based CIR, founded in 2020, states on its website that it is an ‘independent, non-profit enterprise dedicated to countering disinformation, exposing human rights abuses, and combating online behaviour harmful to women and minorities’[ix]. They describe their methods to achieve their goals as research, social media analysis, digital investigations, building capacity with local partners, and collaboration with the media.
The two founders, Ross Burley and Adam Rutland, remain as directors. Burley has served in government disinformation projects in London, Washington and Tel Aviv. He also worked as part of the Zinc Network, part of the UK government’s much criticised Prevent strategy, whose stated mission is to prevent youth from engaging with terrorism. Rutland worked in the Foreign Office’s Communication and Engagement Department and as a diplomat[x]. He was also named several times in the Integrity Initiative leak, that launched a shadowy disinformation campaign against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party[xi]. According to Declassified, CIR’s accounts suggest that Burley and Rutland undertake similar work at CIR that they undertook in the Foreign Office. Other board members and employees have worked in British and overseas intelligence services, and at NATO strategic communications. The UK government has funded CIR by £2.7 million since 2021[xii]. CIR website states that it has no core funding but is paid for undertaking projects; it does not accept individual donations over £500. The website further states that it has received grants from UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO); US Department of State, USAID; and the Australian government.
In a statement to Declassified CIR stated that “We carry out projects that are aligned with our core values of supporting and defending human rights and democracy…we believe the explosion of disinformation and online harms has eroded trust within society and for democracy”. They further stated that they work with governments, academia, other NGOs and volunteers[xiii].
Projects on the CIR website were examined. In January 2022, CIR launched “Eyes On Russia” project to verify and list Russian war crimes in Ukraine. However, CIR did not verify the contested numbers of deaths and serious injuries amongst those in the Ukrainian armed forces, which tragically may be in hundreds of thousands. In Afghanistan CIR focused on verifying Taliban policies, but did not investigate possible war crimes by British and American forces in that country. In November 2023 Burley writes in the online American magazine Politico that Elon Musk’s Twitter/X had published ‘unverified’ claims about the Israeli assault on Gaza, stating that such rapid publication of information could not be relied upon[xiv]. There is no evidence on the CIR website of an ongoing war crimes verification project in Gaza. Clearly, the verification of facts by CIR is influenced by funding, with clients selecting information to be investigated that is in their own political interest. It is in essence creating content that coincides with the political ambitions of its paymasters – this does not mean it is incorrect information, but selected truths that do not show the whole picture.
CIR works with various news outlets in UK and overseas, including BBC, The Guardian, the Financial Times, and the New Statesman; however, although the CIR is frequently quoted in the UK media, it is presented as independent and its funding sources and links with governments and intelligence services are rarely mentioned[xv].
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD)
The think tank ISD calls itself a world-leading authority on global security, political risk and military conflict. It states it is ‘Powering solutions to extremism, hate and disinformation’. It was described by American journalist Matt Taibbi as one of the 50 most important actors in the Censorship Industrial Complex[xvi].
The ISD has offices in London, plus others in Washington DC, Berlin, Amman, Nairobi, and Paris. It states it works with the EC and 12 other governments, and claims to work with 32,000 activists and social influencers around the world, supporting and training 40 governments and hundreds of cities worldwide[xvii]. Its counter-disinformation work focuses on electoral, climate, public health and conspiracy networks. Its programmes include the Digital Policy Lab that brings together policy makers from ‘key liberal democratic countries’, and in this capacity it has reviewed Europe’s Digital Services Act and UK’s Online Safety Act[xviii]. ISD also operates a media literacy programme ‘Be Internet Citizens’[xix].
ISD’s funders include 36 governments and government departments, including UK’s FCO and Home Office, and Ofcom. It is also funded by 16 large foundations including the British Council, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Omidyar and Open Society Partnership; and has links with social media giants including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Spotify, and YouTube[xx]
Taibbi states that ISD offers a ‘smorgasbord’ of content suffocation tools, such as a ‘hate-mapper’ service and a product called Beam which is ‘multi-lingual, multiplatform platform developed to expose, track and confront information threats online, identifying ‘bad actors’ and ‘extremist actors’. Amongst other accusations, Taibbi states that ISD was instrumental in getting not-yet-convicted persons accused of participation in the January 6th events removed from social media[xxi].
On examining the ISD content, narratives closely follow those that are circulated by Western governments. For example, on climate issues one article reports on how wellness and ‘new age influencers’ serve the anti-climate narrative[xxii] presenting such persons in a negative manner and with no acknowledgement that climate scientists hold a wide range of opinions; a report from Australia on protests against drag queen events in libraries for children describes protesters as ‘established extremist actors’ such as the far right and conspiracy theorists, or parents who are intolerant of LGBTQ+ people. Protests that ISD criticises appear to be normal lobbying activities, such as attending school meetings, producing flyers, and email campaigns[xxiii]. A report on antisemitism uses the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism, and includes posts critical of George Soros as anti-semitic[xxiv]. A report on Covid-19 called dissenting opinions ‘disinformation’ and ‘hateful’, and linked dissent to anti-Chinese, antisemitism, anti-immigration, anti-government, and terrorism motivations[xxv]. In reported the campus protests at American universities as being weaponised by foreign actors, including the Chinese, that are capitalising on the United States beset with social and political turmoil[xxvi].
As an example of ISD influence, a document was sent to MPs in May 2024 explaining risks linked to conspiracy theories. The report explains that such theories are built of mis- and disinformation that fill people’s gaps in knowledge. The study also linked a belief in these theories to mental disorders, insecurity, narcissism, ideology, and antisemitism. The report describes conspiracy theories as a threat to democracy,
This appears as a media literacy campaign to ‘inoculate’ busy MPs so that they do not take genuine concerns of constituents seriously. However, some of the suggested conspiracy theories in this document are based on real concerns, for example, the chapter on Global Control, The Great Reset and the New World Order[xxvii]. The Great Reset is being led by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF claims it plans to create a fairer and better world, but the only persons who have been allowed to join the debate so far are the rich and powerful. Additionally, a debate between those with opposing views on WEF policy has not yet appeared on mainstream media. As opposing political parties support WEF policies, constituents cannot vote to alter the political direction. Many constituents are well informed and have a democratic right to discuss their concerns with their parliamentary representative without being labelled as unstable, narcissistic, or anti-semitic.
Open Information Partnership (OIP).
OIP describes itself as a diverse network of organisations and individuals united in determination to expose and counter disinformation. OIP partners are the Zinc Network, part of Prevent, and TFA a specialist consultancy providing capacity building support, including fundraising.
OIP is solely funded by the UKFCO until 2025; according to a report by McEvoy and Curtis it received £12.75 million between 2018-2021, plus funding from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund[xxviii]. OIP is linked to about 40 fact check platforms, NGOs, tech companies and media groups mostly situated in Eastern Europe and with anti-Russian attitudes. OIP’s stated mission is to expose and counter disinformation, stating ‘Our partners and member organisations work tirelessly to combat the spread of disinformation – conducting research, analysis, and investigations, producing reports, publishing articles and developing tools and methodologies’[xxix]. OIP has links to the CIR, for example, Ross Burley, one of the directors of the CIR, was involved in the launch of OIP, and sits on the OIP board[xxx]. Declassified states that OIP is linked to The Zinc Network and also the DFR Lab, the fact check arm of the Atlantic Council that is part of NATO[xxxi].
OIP’s website shows the research base concentrates on Russian disinformation in East European countries, including Hungary, the Balkans, the Black Sea. Finland and Germany, undertaken in conjunction with NGOs and Fact Check platforms in those countries.
The Global Disinformation Index (GDI)
GDI is a British not-for-profit that fulfils contracts and states that it ‘exists to disrupt online disinformation’[xxxii]. It claims it offers transparent, independent, and neutral disinformation risk ratings across the web. Its method is to disrupt the business model of organisations that it deems to be transmitting disinformation. It was founded in UK in 2018 by Dr. Daniel Rogers, a professor at New York University, who had previously worked in US intelligence services. It has links with the National Endowment for Democracy, a soft power organisation that took on parts of the CIA’s operations when it was formed. GDI holds a strong pro-NATO position. For example, in a 2022 GDI report on anti-democratic and anti-Ukrainian disinformation it included information that is historically accurate, such as ‘Ukrainians are killing civilians’ and ‘There was a coup d’etat in 2014’[xxxiii].
According to the website Influence Watch, GDI has received funding from various foundations including Luminate, Craig Newmark Foundation, Knight Foundation, the Open Society, the Disinfo Cloud, plus the United Kingdom government[xxxiv].
GDI states that its open source intelligence hub tracks disinformation and extremism online. It then provides information to government’s, NGOs, online platforms, and the media[xxxv]. This is then used to disrupt the flow of advertising revenue to sites that it has deemed to carry misinformation. It compiles blacklists of what it describes as the riskiest news outlets. The US House of Representatives wrote to The Secretary of State in May 2023 to complain of inappropriate actions by the government funded Global Engagement Center (GEC), claiming the GEC had strayed from its founding mission through its subsidised censorship of free speech and disfavoured opinions – particularly established conservative media – through grants, partnerships, and awards to entities including the GDI and others[xxxvi]. Those considered ‘riskiest’ on the blacklist were mainly conservative media outlets. This type of a censorship action places the GDI on Taibbi’s list of 50 top organisations in the Censorship Industrial Complex[xxxvii].
GDI blacklisting has also affected UK media outlets. For example, Freddie Sayers of online platform Unherd could not attract advertising revenue - Unherd had been blacklisted because its authors Kathleen Stock and Julie Blindel were accused by the GDI of discriminating against transgender people[xxxviii]. This received media and political interest, and Unherd reported that David Cameron foreign secretary had stated that the UK government was no longer funding the GDI and did not intend to do so in future[xxxix].
Conclusion.
In examining these five large NGOs it can be seen that they have the ability to significantly impact free expression, working with governments, intelligence, and the media. Without funding from governments, corporations and philanthropy they could not exist. This creates a symbiotic relationship between large players in the disinformation industry, and the rich and powerful. However much these organisations claim independence, without the desire for censorship by governments and corporations, there would be no demand for their services.
Sometimes in their quest to censor, inevitably these organisations will from time to time overstep boundaries of decency and funders will be forced to review their donations due to public or political pressure, as we have seen in the case of the GDI. When this happens, it is simple for any NGO to close down; founders and employees can invest in a new venture using the same contacts, offering the same products, and attracting the same funding. Thus, damage to their reputation is not an important consideration for large disinformation platforms – what is more important is to provide a service that the rich and powerful want to use. With the proliferation of new online safety legislation in many countries the demand for their services can only increase.
Next week I will discuss British universities with fact check functions, and individual fact check platforms operating n UK.
[i] The New Push for Censorship Under the Guise of Combating Hate - Tablet Magazine
[ii] About — Center for Countering Digital Hate | CCDH (counterhate.com)
[iv] The New Push for Censorship Under the Guise of Combating Hate - Tablet Magazine
[v] How We’re Taking Action Against Vaccine Misinformation Superspreaders | Meta (fb.com)
[vi] The New Push for Censorship Under the Guise of Combating Hate - Tablet Magazine
[vii] Exclusive: Labour right linked to campaign to shut down The Canary - Canary
[viii] "UK Files" Reports Show: Both Left and Right Can Be Targets of Censors (racket.news)
[ix] Centre for Information Resilience (info-res.org)
[x] UK Foreign Office gives millions to ‘counter-disinformation’ groups (declassifieduk.org)
[xi] How A Murky Row Over Russia, Jeremy Corbyn And A 'Psyops Campaign' Went Mainstream | HuffPost UK News (huffingtonpost.co.uk)
[xii] UK Foreign Office gives millions to ‘counter-disinformation’ groups (declassifieduk.org)
[xiii] UK Foreign Office gives millions to ‘counter-disinformation’ groups (declassifieduk.org)
[xiv] Lesson from Ukraine to Gaza: Truth demands patience – POLITICO
[xv] How the UK media misinforms us about 'counter-disinformation' operations (declassifieduk.org)
[xvi] Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex: The Top 50 Organizations to Know (racket.news)
[xvii] Home - ISD (isdglobal.org)
[xviii] Digital Policy Lab - ISD developing policies against online hate (isdglobal.org)
[xix] Be Internet Citizens - ISD increase young people’s digital citizenship skills (isdglobal.org)
[xx] Partnerships and Funders - ISD (isdglobal.org) page 14.
[xxi] Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex: The Top 50 Organizations to Know (racket.news)
[xxii] ‘Conspirituality’ and climate: How wellness and new age influencers are serving anti-climate narratives to their audiences - ISD (isdglobal.org)
[xxiii] Understanding-Threats-and-Harassment-Targeting-Drag-Shows-and-the-LGBTQ-Community.pdf (isdglobal.org)
[xxiv] Antisemitism on Twitter Before and After Elon Musk’s Acquisition - ISD (isdglobal.org)
[xxv] COVID-19-Briefing-Institute-for-Strategic-Dialogue-27th-March-2020.pdf (isdglobal.org)
[xxvi] US campus protests being weaponized by foreign actors ahead of elections - ISD (isdglobal.org)
[xxvii] Conspiracy-Theories-Guide.pdf (isdglobal.org) p
[xxviii] UK Foreign Office gives millions to ‘counter-disinformation’ groups (declassifieduk.org)
[xxix] Homepage - Open Information Partnership
[xxx] UK Foreign Office gives millions to ‘counter-disinformation’ groups (declassifieduk.org)
[xxxi] UK Foreign Office gives millions to ‘counter-disinformation’ groups (declassifieduk.org)
[xxxii] The Global Disinformation Index
[xxxiii] The Global Disinformation Index
[xxxiv] Global Disinformation Index (GDI) - InfluenceWatch - InfluenceWatch
[xxxv] The Global Disinformation Index
[xxxvi] 5.1.23-McCaul-Mast-Issa-Letter-to-Secretary-Blinken-regarding-GEC81.pdf (house.gov)
[xxxvii] Report on the Censorship-Industrial Complex: The Top 50 Organizations to Know (racket.news)
[xxxviii] Inside the disinformation industry - UnHerd
[xxxix] David Cameron: Government will no longer fund Global Disinformation Index - UnHerd