The US military had its fake accounts banned from social media

The Pentagon recently ordered a sweeping audit of how it conducts psychological operations (psyops) online, WaPo reported yesterday, citing several internal military sources. The reason for this sudden introspection? Social media platforms identified and removed ~150 fake accounts they suspected were run by the US military.

📱 More deets… The Pentagon’s review comes after an outside report published last month uncovered a series of fake online accounts with AI-generated faces for profile pictures, created to “promote pro-Western narratives” in countries like Russia, China, and Afghanistan.

• While the report’s authors didn’t conclusively link them to the Pentagon, they said the accounts “consistently advanced narratives promoting [US] interests,” and only linked to news sites financially backed by the US government and/or military.
• Two internal sources later confirmed to WaPo that US military officials were indeed behind the operation, which was identified and deleted by Facebook and Twitter a few months ago. (We knew there had to be something behind all those "Bames Jond" friend requests.)

🌎 Zoom out: Creating fake accounts in an attempt to influence online discourse in another country is a tried-and-true tactic used by intelligence agencies around the globe, especially those from Russia and China.