These companies are deeply embedded with the state security services of the U.S. government, which direct the flow of content moderation for their own agendas. Twitter, for instance, “directly assisted the U.S. military’s influence operations.”8 The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, in partnership with Stanford University, made “specific recommendations” on how companies like Facebook, TikTok, Youtube and Reddit “should censor” posts.”9
Even more, one report noted: “Facebook has recruited dozens of individuals from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as well as many more from other agencies like the FBI and Department of Defense (DoD). These hires are primarily in highly politically sensitive sectors such as trust, security and content moderation…TikTok is flooded with NATO officials…former FBI agents abound at Twitter, and…Reddit is led by a former war planner for the NATO think tank, the Atlantic Council.”10