Alan Macleod

Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. He completed his PhD in 2017 and has since authored two acclaimed books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. Follow Alan on Twitter for more of his work and commentary: @AlanRMacLeod.

Rotten Apple: Dozens of Former Israeli Spies Hired by Silicon Valley Giant

A new MintPress News study has found dozens of former agents of the Israeli spy agency, Unit 8200, working at tech giant Apple.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Apple Israel Unit 8200

Apple has made headlines in recent weeks for touting its commitment to privacy and human rights, rolling out tools to limit surveillance and spyware. But behind the corporate messaging lies a much darker reality. The company has quietly brought in dozens of veterans from Unit 8200, Israel’s shadowy military intelligence unit known for blackmail,

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Exclusive: Google Helped Israel Spread War Propaganda to 45 Million Europeans

Internal ad records show Israel spent millions on YouTube propaganda targeting Europe, ads that breach Google’s own rules and frame the war on Gaza as a defense of Western civilization.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Google Ads

While it continues its conflict with its neighbors, Israel is fighting another war just as intensely, spending gigantic amounts of money bombarding Europe with messaging justifying their actions, and scaremongering Europeans that Iranian nuclear missiles will soon be turning their cities into rubble. A MintPress study has found that, since it

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Blinken Ordered the Hit. Big Tech Carried It Out. African Stream Is Dead.

A fast-growing pan-African media outlet was erased in a coordinated takedown, accused without evidence, censored without process, and punished for challenging Washington and Silicon Valley.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
African Stream Hero Image

On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, African Stream published its final video, a defiant farewell message. With that, the once-thriving pan-African media outlet confirmed it was shutting down for good. Not because it broke the law. Not because it spread disinformation or incited violence. But because it told the wrong story, one that challenged U.S. power in

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Starlink’s Secret War: How Musk Is Powering a Covert Campaign Against Iran

Musk may be beefing with Trump online, but when it comes to toppling Iran’s government, they’re perfectly aligned.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
X Starlink Logo and Elon Musk Profile – Indonesia – Dec. 21, 2024

By actively partnering with the U.S. government to smuggle communications hardware into Iran, Elon Musk is once again aiding Washington's attempts at regime change. This fits into a long pattern of both American efforts to dislodge the government in Tehran and Musk's close collaboration with the U.S. national security state, helping it to achieve

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Sir Trevor Chinn: The Tycoon Who Hijacked British Democracy for Israel

He bankrolled Starmer, buried Corbyn, and silenced dissent. Meet the secretive oligarch shaping U.K. politics from behind the scenes—for Israel.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Sir Trevor Chinn with Jacob Rothschild and Tony Blair

He likes to keep a low profile. But Sir Trevor Chinn is one of the most powerful men in British politics. The retired businessman has donated millions to politicians, facilitated Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s rise to power, helped destroy the movement around Jeremy Corbyn, and, above all, has made sure that both major parties support Israel and

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From Media Darling to Persona Non Grata: Greta Thunberg’s Journey

Once a global icon embraced by the media and political elite, Greta Thunberg is now marginalized for speaking out against war, imperialism, and Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Greta Thunberg at a pro-Palestinian rally in Mannheim, Germany, December 2024

Once the favored child of the establishment, Greta Thunberg has been dropped by the global elite. A MintPress News study finds that coverage of Thunberg in The New York Times and Washington Post has dwindled from hundreds of articles per year to barely a handful, precisely as she widens her focus from the environment to the capitalist system that

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Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador Dictatorship: Made in Israel

Nayib Bukele may be Palestinian, but the dictatorship he built in El Salvador is made in Israel. From weapons to spyware, Alan Macleod examines the Israeli support behind the man who calls himself “the world’s coolest dictator.”

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
President Nayib Bukele stands in front of red surveillance vortex; background shows Israeli flags, military scenes, and prisoners escorted by soldiers.

Nayib Bukele may be Palestinian, but the dictatorship he has built in El Salvador is very much made in Israel. From arming his security forces to supplying him with weapons and high-tech surveillance tools, MintPress explores the Israeli influence helping to prop up the man who calls himself “the world’s coolest dictator.”   Arming a

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