New Twitter Files released today by investigative journalist Paul D. Thacker reveal new details about how nonprofit organizations and academic researchers colluded with social media platforms, media organizations and the White House to censor Childrens Health Defense (CHD) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CHDs chairman on leave, for spreading disinformation.
In Twitter Files: Who Are the People Claiming RFK Jr. is Disinformation? Thacker cited documents he found while examining Twitters archives. They show that groups such as the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) worked with Twitter to censor Kennedy and others who questioned the establishments COVID-19 narratives.
CCDH drafted a list of the so-called Disinformation Dozen, which included Kennedy, Dr. Joseph Mercola and Ty and Charlene Bollinger, founders of The Truth About Vaccines and The Truth About Cancer websites. The list was used by the White House and Twitter, prior to its purchase by Elon Musk, to censor those individuals.
CCDH was able to exert such influence even though its funding sources are not public. Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, previously was connected to the United Kingdom Labour Party, and other CCDH board members have ties to George Soros Open Society Foundations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
CCDH also collaborates with online fact-checking firms like NewsGuard.