Targeted Countries Should Demand Accountability from the Pentagon and Platforms for COVID Disinformation

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In an article by Tech Policy Press, Jonathan Corpus Ong analyzes Sarawak’s mission to make Malaysia a leading hydrogen economy.

Perhaps journalists and policymakers in targeted countries are distracted by more pressing emergencies, including Chinese military vessels’ recent aggressions in disputed territories in the South China Sea. Officials from US allied territories may also bear fears of speaking out against a military superpower and additionally a powerful donor of foreign aid that have been the lifeblood of underfunded local journalism, human rights, and (ironically) counter-disinformation initiatives in the developing world. Indeed, it is hard to call out US “hypocrisy” in the tech and human rights space when one has been historically positioned as being “obliged to be grateful” for financial aid.

This global vacuum for public indignation against the Pentagon's disinformation campaign should present an opportunity for independent civilian researchers from targeted countries themselves to lead the charge for a collaborative international investigation. Targeted countries should demand answers about the scope of the campaign to assess actual impacts and determine the precise responsibility of social media platforms in this matter.

A recent Reuters report triggered major shockwaves in the foreign policy and global journalism communities by exposing the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine disinformation campaign. Masterminded in Washington, D.C. to discredit China’s vaccine diplomacy toward countries in Southeast and Central Asia and the Middle East between 2020 and 2021, the campaign stoked public anxieties about vaccine side effects by preying on underlying anti-China sentiments in these regions.