Big Tech corporations in Silicon Valley have billions of dollars worth of contracts with numerous US government agencies, including the CIA, FBI, Pentagon, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as local police departments.
These Big Tech corporations, which control widely used social media platforms, frequently censor state-funded media outlets from Russia, China, and Iran.
But on the same platforms, Western state media outlets are free to spread propaganda against their adversaries, and they are not even labeled.
YouTube (which is owned by Google) has banned Russia's RT in every country on Earth. It has also censored Iranian networks like Press TV dozens of times.
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram (which is owned by Meta), and Twitter have all labeled Russian, Chinese, and Iranian networks.
But these same Silicon Valley corporations do not have state-affiliated labels for US state media outlets Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), or NPR; nor do they label state media outlets Deutsche Welle (DW) of Germany, France 24, CBC of Canada, TRT World of Turkey, or ABC of Australia.
ABC is not labeled despite the fact that the Australian government has publicly acknowledged that it is an instrument of soft power, serving the state's foreign policy and national security interests by spreading disinformation against its adversary China.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made this absolutely clear in a speech at ABC's 90th anniversary celebration on August 5.
The state-funded network published a report on the event titled "Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls for greater ABC voice in the Pacific to protect national security."
"The Prime Minister says it is a matter of national security that the ABC makes more content that projects Australian values and interests to the Indo-Pacific region," ABC wrote.
The ABC article continued:
The PM stressed the importance of a strong Australian voice in the Pacific in order to keep other influences out.
"When the ABC voice was removed from the Pacific, guess what nation moved in? Simple as that, a major mistake of foreign policy."
He said Australia's "identity, values and interests" must be projected to the Pacific.
"On top of every other consideration, it is a prudent investment in our national security as well as our national interest.
"[This] was undervalued by the previous government, even trivialised. That was a mistake."
Mr Albanese reaffirmed his government's commitment to an Indo-Pacific broadcasting strategy, which increases ABC International funding so Australian content can be boosted in the region.
Since taking office in May, Mr Albanese has vowed to counter China's rising assertiveness in the Pacific region and restore Australia as the partner of choice.
Twitter lists RT as "Russia state-affiliated media" and CGTN as "China state-affiliated media." But ABC News has no such label.
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