Oct 01, 2019 12:30:00

Twitter executives turned out to belong to `` British Army Information Operations Force ''

by

Christina Morillo

Gordon MacMillan , a senior Twitter executive and editor of the Twitter UK and editor of the Middle East blog, is now in the British Army's Information Operations Unit. The fact that Twitter executives belonged to departments involved in information warfare through SNS and data analysis is a controversial issue.

EXCLUSIVE: Twitter executive for Middle East is British Army 'psyops' soldier | Middle East Eye
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/twitter-executive-also-part-time-officer-uk-army-psychological-warfare-unit

Twitter's 'head of editorial' for Middle East is officer in British Army's information warfare unit | The Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/twitter-executive-british-army-officer-psyops-gordon-macmillan-a9127036.html

MacMillan joined Twitter UK in 2013 and has been the editor-in-chief of official blogs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa since July 2016. It was revealed that MacMillan was participating in

the 77th brigade established in 2015 as a reserve officer in parallel with his Twitter activities.

The 77th Brigade is a unit that combines regular soldiers and reserve soldiers, claiming to be a department that “uses non-lethal and lawful non-military means to deal with modern warfare”. The 77th Brigade, which aims to help achieve military goals through targeted information activities and reduce costs and sacrifices, is called “Information War” through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, podcasts, data analysis, etc. It is said to execute things.

There are many aspects that are difficult for regular soldiers to perform advanced information warfare, so it seems that the 77th Brigade will execute operations using the best talent from regular soldiers and reserves. The British Army reserve includes part-time volunteers including civilian specialization, and it is necessary to provide 19 days of support to the regular army. MacMillan appears to have worked with the 77th Brigade as a part-time expert.

The fact that Mr. MacMillan belonged to the 77th Brigade as a reserve officer was revealed by the disclosure of the contents of Mr. MacMillan himself on LinkedIn. MacMillan's page has already been edited and references to the 77th Brigade have been removed.

The UK Department of Defense has not revealed what MacMillan was doing in the 77th Brigade and what class it was at the time of writing. The 77th Brigade is said to be engaged in information operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and when some former officers belonged to the 77th Brigade, `` leading behavioral change in the Middle East region, 'I was playing a role in curbing sharpening.'

Social media such as social media played an important role in the large-scale anti-government campaign “ Arab Spring ” that occurred in the Middle East and North Africa around 2010. Many governments and military organizations are focusing on the power of social media, and the 77th Brigade is one example.

On the other hand, social media keeps an eye on accounts and groups that conduct political propaganda, and Facebook has deleted Myanmar army-related accounts and groups in connection with the persecution of the ethnic minority “ Rohingya ”. Twitter also deleted more than a thousand accounts in September 2019 in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Ecuador because of political information manipulation .

A spokesman for the British Army says, “There is no special relationship or agreement between the 77th Brigade and Twitter, just like many other social media platforms, it ’s only used for communication.” . Also, Twitter spokespersons did not comment on MacMillan's 77th Brigade activity, “Twitter is an open, neutral and strictly independent platform.” “As long as the company's guidelines are followed, external volunteers We encourage employees who are looking for opportunities to participate in these activities. '

by Marie Slim