🇦🇪 The New York Times reports that the UAE paid more than $6 million to the reputation management firm Terakeet between 2020 and 2022 to manipulate Google search results and suppress damaging reporting by Drop Site co-founder Ryan Grim, then at The Intercept, about Emirati Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba.
The 2017 investigation examined allegations surrounding Otaiba’s ties to escorts and individuals linked to sex trafficking. According to the NYT, Terakeet responded by creating favorable profiles, using anonymous accounts to edit Wikipedia, and flooding the internet with SEO-optimized content designed to push Grim’s reporting off Google’s front page. By 2023, the article had reportedly been pushed as far back as page five of search results.
The broader NYT investigation examines how wealthy corporations, billionaires, and politically connected figures use high-end “reputation management” firms to manipulate online narratives, suppress scandals, and reshape what appears in Google searches. The report also details Terakeet’s work for Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler over her ties to Jeffrey Epstein and billionaire Robert F. Smith following his tax fraud case.
One Wahhabi apologist to another:
"Iran will backstab Pakistan"
"I agree"
*dramatic pause*
"...We have ijm'a!"
Meanwhile the TheWirePk cabal is typing their next article: "Scholars Agree: Pakistan Doomed"
Two guys. One group chat. Ancient theological consensus. Same thing, basically.
Arabs and Pakistanis also need to understand: Iran offers shared geography, civilizational history, and vital trade routes no Gulf state can replace.
The UAE, meanwhile, recalled deposits at our worst economic moment, deepened ties with India and Israel, and is now straining Pakistan's historically close relationship with Saudi Arabia.
It also triggered the Qatar crisis, fracturing the GCC and cornering Pakistan between allies.
Before labelling Iran the threat, ask: which partner is actually unravelling Pakistan's strategic neighbourhood?
Two days in Lahore, zero bad meals. I'll give them that. But I'm in Islamabad tomorrow, possibly Peshawar Sunday, Karachi next weekend, Riyadh in between, then Istanbul and Luxembourg after. By the time this food tour ends I'll have enough data (and 8 kilos) to settle this properly.
Was this what we talked about? lol 😂 I’ll answer your question anyway:
Nobody outside Iranian decision-making circles can answer that with certainty. But factually, there’s no public evidence Iran had a confirmed opportunity to strike a specific Israeli delegation in the UAE and intentionally let it go.
What we did talk about was you ranting on and on about IRGC and proxies and how Iran lost and US won and 🤣🤣
@hashurtag@chaiiiguevara@thewirepak Why even bother with X Spaces? Just stand in your bathroom and yell ‘I love UAE’ and the echo will start explaining geopolitics to you 😭
Free echo chamber for the Emiradoos.
Emiradoos are a conphoosed lot.
Iran breathes near India and these guys turn into full-time revolutionaries. With a patriotic twist, ‘Iran will backstab Pakistan by siding with India’.
Meanwhile, UAE does billion-dollar deals, military cooperation, Modi photo ops, and suddenly it’s: ‘brother geopolitics is complicated’ 😭
@chaiiiguevara Let them have their spaces, honestly who cares. It’s basically a support group at this point…everyone takes turns patting each other on the back, nobody says the obvious thing out loud, and somehow they always manage to walk away having convinced themselves they’re brilliant.
The mental gymnastics alone deserve a medal. Call it whatever you want, just don’t call it political analysis.
@hashurtag@chaiiiguevara Emirati bros inhale industrial copium,
Every week they predict the end of IRGCium.
Then one ship moves through Hormuz at maximum speed,
And suddenly “regional dialogue” is all they need.
Share a video of yourself dancing to Bedouin tunes while singing this 🤭
@hashurtag@chaiiiguevara Didn't say it was, but it's heading that way.
Since you are past even your one remaining brain cell let me put it in a picture for you instead of big words.
Here's the Disney explanation 🤭:
@hashurtag@chaiiiguevara LoL why are you getting triggered? Unless an alliance includes Iran, it's bound to fail. Iran is the regional power now, Saudis understand this and have extended a non aggression pact... You will wake up to the reality too.
Don't deviate, stay focused buddy. Tell us all how the Gulf states are playing 9D quantum chess: inching towards a defense pact with India, bromance with Zionists, and feuding with each other....all part of the masterplan. And ultimately all in Pakistan's interest,because Pakistan first right? Right?
Every contradiction is "strategic genius" the peasants simply can’t comprehend but you see clearly 🤭