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Former US Diplomat claimed that some factions in the US State Department Worked Towards Moderating Content Of PM Modi And BJP
In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a robust relationship with US then-President Donald Trump but Trump did not have much influence on the State Department. (Source: Reuters)
US State Department’s former senior diplomat Mike Benz made some explosive revelations about how the online discourse around Prime Minister Narendra Modi was manipulated while speaking to Sunday Guardian.
Benz said that a campaign had been waged by the biased elements present in the US foreign policy establishment against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP during the time when the 2019 General Elections were held in India.
Benz said that such elements in the State Department, along with influential think tanks and social media tech giants were working together to present the electoral success of PM Modi as a result of a “misinformation campaign”.
He added that this anti-India cabal censored WhatsApp because pro-Modi messages were circulated on the messaging app by his supporters.
Benz explained that the US foreign policy establishment was dependent on Facebook to limit the amount of WhatsApp messages which can be shared to control the circulation of the amount of pro-Modi content in India. The supporters of PM Modi were disproportionately sharing content on WhatsApp.
Benz said that he received various emails in which US tech companies were asked to aggressively carry out censorship of content around PM Modi. The social media companies involved in content moderation were Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Twitter, he added.
He said that PM Modi shared a robust relationship with US then-President Donald Trump but Trump did not have much influence on the rank-and-file of the State Department.
A lot of rogue factions in the US State Department did not agree with the president’s foreign policy and did not even accept Trump as their boss.
- Location :
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
