Alan Macleod

Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two 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.

How One Spook-Run London College Department Is Training the World’s Social Media Managers

Kremlin propaganda is real, but its reach is decidedly minor in comparison to the massive disinformation campaigns being launched by the Western national security state. And as Alan Macloed reveals, London’s Department of War Studies is a key part of that information war.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Department of War Studies at King’s College London Feature photo

Staffed by NATO military officers and former government ministers and notorious for training the West’s top spies, the Department of War Studies at King’s College London is also providing the workforce for many of the largest social media companies. This includes Facebook, TikTok, Google, and Twitter. A MintPress study of professional databases

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Most of the “Fact-Checking” Organizations Facebook Uses in Ukraine Are Directly Funded by Washington

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an information war as bitter as the ground fighting has erupted, and Meta (Facebook’s official name) announced it had partnered with nine organizations to help it sort fact from fiction.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Facebook Fact Checkers Feature photo

Most of the fact-checking organizations Facebook has partnered with to monitor and regulate information about Ukraine are directly funded by the U.S. government, either through the U.S. Embassy or via the notorious National Endowment for Democracy (NED). In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an information war as bitter as the ground

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National Security Search Engine: Google’s Ranks are Filled with CIA Agents

Studying employment websites and databases, MintPress has found that Google in recent years, hired dozens of professionals from the CIA. Alan Macleod reveals the details of the murky relationship.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Google CIA feature photo

Google – one of the largest and most influential organizations in the modern world – is filled with ex-CIA agents. Studying employment websites and databases, MintPress has ascertained that the Silicon Valley giant has recently hired dozens of professionals from the Central Intelligence Agency in recent years. Moreover, an inordinate number of

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Meet the Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

In this new MintPress investigation, journalist Alan MacLeod finds that Facebook has recruited dozens of individuals from the CIA, as well as many more from the FBI and Department of Defense (DoD). These hires are primarily in highly politically sensitive sectors such as trust, security and content moderation, to the point where some might feel it becomes difficult to see where the U.S. national security state ends and Facebook begins. 

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Faccebook CIA Feaure photo

It is an uncomfortable job for anyone trying to draw the line between “harmful content and protecting freedom of speech. It’s a balance”, Aaron says. In this official Facebook video, Aaron identifies himself as the manager of “the team that writes the rules for Facebook”, determining “what is acceptable and what is not.” Thus, he and his team

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The Federal Bureau of Tweets: Twitter Is Hiring an Alarming Number of FBI Agents

“In terms of their outlooks on the world and on the question of misinformation and internet security, you couldn’t get a better field of professionals who are almost inherently going to be more in tune with the government’s perspective.” – FBI Whistleblower Coleen Rowley

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Twitter FBI Feaure photo

SAN FRANCISCO – Twitter has been on a recruitment drive of late, hiring a host of former feds and spies. Studying a number of employment and recruitment websites, MintPress has ascertained that the social media giant has, in recent years, recruited dozens of individuals from the national security state to work in the fields of security, trust,

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“Top Gun: Maverick” is Military Propaganda. Official Documents Prove It

No doubt the Pentagon is aware that the propaganda value of “Top Gun: Maverick” would be greatly diminished if moviegoers realized that this was an hours-long propaganda film produced by the military itself.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Top Gun Feature photo

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF – “Top Gun: Maverick” is a box-office smash, a massive hit with both critics and the public alike. Navy and Air Force units across the country have set up recruitment stalls inside movie halls, hoping to sign up individuals buzzed after watching the high-paced aviation action. But documents obtained under the Freedom of

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The Frontman of Empire: How Bono’s “Activism” Serves the Powerful

Bono presents himself as a radical activist ruffling feathers and standing up for the world’s oppressed. In reality, he has not done or said anything in decades that discomforts the political and economical rulers of the world, which is precisely why he is constantly invited into the halls of power.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Bono Empire Feature photo

DUBLIN – Bono is again in the news for his political activism. At the behest of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Irish rockstar and frontman of U2 traveled to Kiev, where he performed a few songs with Ukrainian soldiers inside the Khreshchatyk metro station to a crowd of around 100 people – most of whom were journalists. After the

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