Internal corporate documents published to media outlets claim that Twitter has maintained “constant and pervasive” communications with the FBI and other US intelligence services for a number of years. The documents seem to demonstrate a coordinated government effort to banish anything classified as “misinformation.”
The sixth installment of the “Twitter Files,” which was published on Friday by journalist Matt Taibbi, revealed that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) exerted additional pressure on the website between January 2020 and just last month, primarily centered on moderating specific posts and accounts discussing American elections.
Although prior records showed high-level collaboration between intelligence services and Twitter, the most recent records reveal that this collusion may have been more widespread than previously thought. Yoel Roth, the organization’s former Trust and Safety head, spoke with the FBI through more than 150 emails in less than three years.
Prior to Friday, Roth was the only executive who was allegedly in regular contact with the FBI directly. However, the newly released documents reveal that beginning in September, legal executive Stacia Cardille also met once a week with the FBI, DHS, Department of Justice (DOJ), and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), in addition to the FBI.
Cardille highlighted in a letter to Twitter’s former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker—himself a former FBI attorney—that she had inquired about any “impediments” to sharing sensitive material with business partners. The FBI responded that there were “no obstacles to sharing” and stated as such.
“This line highlights the distinct feeling of a huge loving family between Twitter and the FBI. What other company would the FBI casually sign a contract saying “no obstacles to confidential information” with? Taibbi enquired.
The FBI has explicitly asked Twitter in a number of conversations to remove particular posts or perhaps completely block some accounts. In one instance, the agency identified such a large amount of “possibly unlawful information” that Twitter employees were subsequently spotted applauding one another in an internal business conversation for the “monumental endeavor” of evaluating it.
A second mail from the FBI’s “National Election Command Post” on November 5, 2022, included a list of 25 accounts that “may require extra action.” Seven of the names were swiftly permanently banned by Twitter, while another was temporarily suspended and eight tweets were removed for suspected “violations of the civil misinformation policy.”
The majority of the information that was reported in the most recent papers related to the midterm elections in November, including postings from the well-known satirical account “Claire Foster PhD,” which frequently makes fun of progressives. After joking that she was a ballot counting in her state and that she would add “another vote for the Democrats” for every “bad remark” posted on her tweet, “Foster” was reported to the FBI.
When told about the flagging, “Foster” said to Taibbi, “Anyone who cannot distinguish blatant parody from truth has no place making judgments for people or working for the feds.
The spoof account was eventually saved, but many others were not so lucky. Separate records indicate many instances in which Twitter complied with takedown demands from the FBI and DHS, as well as a network of affiliated contractors and NGOs.
The Twitter Files, spearheaded by Taibbi and colleague Bari Weiss, have been released on a rolling basis with the support of the site’s new owner, billionaire businessman Elon Musk. The documents have so far shed light on a number of contentious decisions made by the company, such as information pertaining to the suspension of former President Donald Trump, the use of shadow banning, and a site-wide ban on a New York Post article about the international business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
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