Auron MacIntyre warned on Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec that foreign governments are increasingly attempting to influence American political conversations online through paid messaging campaigns and undisclosed financial incentives.
MacIntyre discussed comments from Trump social media strategist Alex Bruesewitz, who alleged that he was approached by an intermediary connected to the Israeli government and offered millions of dollars to promote a pro-Israel messaging strategy on social media during the Iran war.
“Well, I had Alex Bruesewitz, who is the Trump social media strategist, and he recounted his experience of basically being approached by a cutout for the Israeli government about receiving millions of dollars so that he could give a pro-Israel messaging strategy on social media around the Iran war,” MacIntyre said.
MacIntyre said that after Bruesewitz rejected the offer, another conservative figure with past ties to the Trump campaign appeared to take on a similar role, with significant amounts of money allegedly changing hands.
“And when he turned that offer down, it would appear that they moved on to another conservative operator who used to be associated with the Trump campaign, and it seems like a lot of money exchanged hands,” he said.
MacIntyre argued that while many commentators may genuinely hold the views they express online, foreign funding can amplify certain messages and encourage more aggressive advocacy.
“I don't think this is entirely artificial. I think there are probably a lot of people who were interested in discussing it, but it's very clear that much of it was promoted and subsidized,” MacIntyre said.
He said the issue extends beyond Israel, pointing to other countries that he said have attempted to shape American online discourse.
“And it's obviously, as you point out, not just Israel. India, China, Qatar, Russia, they're all spending a lot of money and a lot of time trying to influence American social media, especially in the conservative sphere,” he said.
MacIntyre argued that declining trust in traditional media has made alternative online spaces more vulnerable to influence efforts because audiences often view them as more authentic.
“With the collapse of trust in mainstream media, a lot of people see things like conservative Twitter or other social media spheres as more organic,” he said. “It's something that has, you know, a normal energy. It seems like average people talking. It doesn't have this slick produced style.”
However, he cautioned that foreign influence does not necessarily mean every person discussing a particular issue is directly receiving instructions from a government.
“Now, again, not every one of these people is getting a script directly from a foreign government,” MacIntyre said. “Many of them probably already support good relationships with those governments anyway.”
He added that financial incentives can still affect the way issues are discussed by encouraging more frequent and stronger messaging.
“But when you add additional money to their pockets for talking about the issue, you incentivize a harder line approach, a more constant messaging stream,” he said.
MacIntyre called for greater transparency and investigations into foreign influence efforts, arguing that Americans should know when political messaging is being financially supported by foreign interests.
“So I think it's really important that across the board, no matter what the country is, we reject this foreign influence,” he said. “We say this is deleterious to the Republic, to the United States. And ultimately, we need to have disclosure.”
“I agree 100% with Alex, what he said on my show, we need to see hard investigations into this, probably extensions of fair laws or strengthening of these kind of policies, so that we know when people are being paid for these opinions,”
MacIntyre discussed comments from Trump social media strategist Alex Bruesewitz, who alleged that he was approached by an intermediary connected to the Israeli government and offered millions of dollars to promote a pro-Israel messaging strategy on social media during the Iran war.
“Well, I had Alex Bruesewitz, who is the Trump social media strategist, and he recounted his experience of basically being approached by a cutout for the Israeli government about receiving millions of dollars so that he could give a pro-Israel messaging strategy on social media around the Iran war,” MacIntyre said.
MacIntyre said that after Bruesewitz rejected the offer, another conservative figure with past ties to the Trump campaign appeared to take on a similar role, with significant amounts of money allegedly changing hands.
“And when he turned that offer down, it would appear that they moved on to another conservative operator who used to be associated with the Trump campaign, and it seems like a lot of money exchanged hands,” he said.
MacIntyre argued that while many commentators may genuinely hold the views they express online, foreign funding can amplify certain messages and encourage more aggressive advocacy.
“I don't think this is entirely artificial. I think there are probably a lot of people who were interested in discussing it, but it's very clear that much of it was promoted and subsidized,” MacIntyre said.
He said the issue extends beyond Israel, pointing to other countries that he said have attempted to shape American online discourse.
“And it's obviously, as you point out, not just Israel. India, China, Qatar, Russia, they're all spending a lot of money and a lot of time trying to influence American social media, especially in the conservative sphere,” he said.
MacIntyre argued that declining trust in traditional media has made alternative online spaces more vulnerable to influence efforts because audiences often view them as more authentic.
“With the collapse of trust in mainstream media, a lot of people see things like conservative Twitter or other social media spheres as more organic,” he said. “It's something that has, you know, a normal energy. It seems like average people talking. It doesn't have this slick produced style.”
However, he cautioned that foreign influence does not necessarily mean every person discussing a particular issue is directly receiving instructions from a government.
“Now, again, not every one of these people is getting a script directly from a foreign government,” MacIntyre said. “Many of them probably already support good relationships with those governments anyway.”
He added that financial incentives can still affect the way issues are discussed by encouraging more frequent and stronger messaging.
“But when you add additional money to their pockets for talking about the issue, you incentivize a harder line approach, a more constant messaging stream,” he said.
MacIntyre called for greater transparency and investigations into foreign influence efforts, arguing that Americans should know when political messaging is being financially supported by foreign interests.
“So I think it's really important that across the board, no matter what the country is, we reject this foreign influence,” he said. “We say this is deleterious to the Republic, to the United States. And ultimately, we need to have disclosure.”
“I agree 100% with Alex, what he said on my show, we need to see hard investigations into this, probably extensions of fair laws or strengthening of these kind of policies, so that we know when people are being paid for these opinions,”
