A short and dire warning for those who use LinkedIn
Today is the latest round in eight years’ worth of my battles with LinkedIn. They have spent at least the last eight years, censoring national security experts and ordinary citizens alike. They censor those that tell the truth against some of their biggest clients, foreign adversaries and those that criticize oligarchy against you, me, our fellow citizens.
I first joined LI/ LinkedIn, the year I retired from the Army, 2015. Considering my background, I and others in my field, including a former CIA Officer realized without doubt, that we were targeted on LinkedIn by Russian and MAGA influence operations, operating unrestrained by LinkedIn. This was on a massive scale that included censoring thousands in the US and among our allies in NATO and other parts of the world. Simply put, LinkedIn protected those influence operations and the trolls/ bots that were involved from the infamous, Troll Factory and their colleagues.
The willful permissiveness of LinkedIn was so fire that the inimitable GOAT reporter for US and allied national security and intelligence for the past four decades,
of wrote a lengthy expose’ of the situation for Newsweek, published on August 3rd of 2017.Now, two elections later, LinkedIn is not only protecting Putin, but the GOP, MAGA, their oligarchical financiers and their allies, China, Iran, N. Korea and architect and villain, largely responsible for the decades long decay and abuse by, the GOP, the Karl Rove wing of the GOP’s hackers. My accounts, including TAT, are now inaccessible to me, restricted without a termination date. They are not only inaccessible but digitally moderated from inside and outside of LinkedIn. Yes, this means that there is a serious, counterintelligence threat within LinkedIn.
The bottom line is, I am again banned, because I stand against America’s enemies, with truthful writing, supported by facts. I’m luckier than my friends from 2017, who are banned permanently, including my friend, long retired from the CIA. There are others too but will not name them due to their commitment to continue doing the hard work in the trenches against the adversaries of democracy. If the US national security community would step up and into the 21st century, ordinary citizens would not have to continue risking so much personally. I have written on how dysfunctional this community is, so I won’t rehash it here today. As per norm, I will simply add analytical links to those essays.
Combat ineffective, the rusted, broken hulk of US Influence Operations (truthaboutthreats.com)
Oligarchy is an acute threat to democracy (truthaboutthreats.com)
The US National Security Community has left us a critical vulnerability in US national security. (truthaboutthreats.com)
A Five Point Strategy to Oppose Russian Narrative Warfare (truthaboutthreats.com)
It's not Inflation, its price-gouging by corporate Oligarchs, who are also, the largest campaign donors. (truthaboutthreats.com))
The reason that I continue to raise this threat with all of you here on Substack, is that everyone who uses LinkedIn and other social media platforms are regularly being censored and unethically marketed to by influence operations. For example, the data shows that one of my most prevalent groups of censors, are oligarchs and large, price-gouging corporate America. This works hand-in-hand with politicians that seek large campaign funding from these sources. The “hitmen” in Congress then ignore writing legislative oversight over these censorship behemoths, into law. Some of these oligarchs and their corporations are still doing business in Russia and China where our IP and best interests are under attack daily, at the supermarket, gas station, car lot, drug store etc. This is to be blunt, everyone’s issue.
So long as corporate giants and their hitmen in congress refuse to provide oversight regarding the censorship by social media platforms of honest citizens, no one’s First Amendment rights are safe, not one single person.
I will continue to occasionally provide updates on this issue, not for me but because freedom of speech within legal limits, is our birthright and one of the key pillars of our democracy.
Below, I will copy my post today on LinkedIn from a temp, extremely limited account. I have never been one to stand down from a fight for freedom. I refuse to start now. Please ensure that all of you look after your own accounts on whatever social media platforms where you hold accounts. We all deserve a voice.
More to follow this week. I just felt that I owed all of you a PSA on the threats against all of us. Yes, it is true that I get a lot of scrutiny for the simple reason, that my voice is loud and better known than many but, even now, my closest connections on LinkedIn can never see my name, posts or other connections associated with me. Their censorship of me, tangentially censors them as well. Even my publisher, cannot even see my name, not even in a search.
Frankly, I am through with those who would steal our democracy. LinkedIn by the way and for those who don’t know, is owned by Microsoft. As most of you know, I use a lot of cartoons in my essays. If you search for this type of cartoons about LinkedIn, you won’t find them. In fact, it would appear that Microsoft has zero sense of humor for any type of critical cartoon. Coincidence? Not likely. Yes, all other platforms appear with cartoons making fun of them. Microsoft apparently censors criticism of LinkedIn and themselves. So much for their dedication to free speech!
If you and I can’t trust them to protect the truth online, why in the hell should the US and allied national security communities, trust them with enormous defense contracts? Yes, this is a rhetorical question. Where the hell is Congress and the National Security community in protecting our constitutional rights?
Thank all of you for your readership. On days like today, I just can’t tell you how much this means. If you get a chance, please see Jeff Stein’s 2017 article. It’s eye-opening, to say the least. Worst of all, things are far worse now.
Cheers for your week,
Paul
For those interested in what I said about LinkedIn this morning and posted on LinkedIn. It was immediately digitally moderated (censored).
Hey LinkedIn, Microsoft, LinkedIn Help,
It is two weeks since you permanently restricted my original account, for zero reason. You repeatedly deny a discussion from LinkedIn help and Trustless and Safety Division.
Your censorship against me and thousands of others, has existed in the entire eight years I have been active with both the account banned and my business account, TAT/ Truth about Threats. I can access neither and there is no end in sight.
This is a CYBER threat to all of your subscribers globally, but only if they challenge Putin, China, big Oil and other oligarchy, Karl Rove and his hackers and in general, the Republican Party. Yes, this is not speculation.
There is also a deep counterintelligence threat within Trust and Safety, same as when Jeff Stein of SpyTalk wrote an in-depth expose' of your issues in 2017, linked below. J' Accuse both you and Microsoft of wittingly and unwittingly censoring in favor of our adversaries, authoritarians and Oligarchy. The Newsweek expose' alone, substantiates this.
Please, don't tell me that the world's largest software entity cannot stop the digital manipulation of our accounts by these adversaries. Please don't tell me that there are no CI threats in Trust and Safety. You may wish to follow-up with a representative calling themselves "Margo." I will attach also, the transcript between us this past two weeks in the comments.
I and other professionals have begged the US national security community to help by investigating LinkedIn about their censorship of those speaking truth and providing sources, in favor of conspiracy theory wielding advocates for those named above, and who operate freely.
Yes, professionally, I am as qualified as anyone to assess this situation. My next book will devote an entire chapter to your criminal negligence and witting disregard for the safety of your own subscribers. As you can see from the Newsweek article, you have imperiled me and those I was associated with at the time of the article. Things are now far worse.
The most pointed way to express your threat to US and allied national security is simply that: You censor and tolerate censorship from the adversaries who are the biggest threats to US and allied national security. In 2015-2017, it was Russia and MAGA. Now, it's the whole damn list above, and more.
If the National Security Council, The White House, US Congress and the national security community as represented partially in the tags that follow in the comments, don't remove their heads from where the sun doesn't shine... no American will have their First Amendment Rights and... there will be no more American or Western democracy.
The White House European Commission UK Ministry of Defence NATO Office of the Secretary of Defense The Joint Staff Joint Special Operations University Joint Special Operations Command U.S. Department of Justice TAT/ Truth about Threats U.S. Department of Homeland Security