The latest batch of "Twitter Files" has been released, and like previous batches, it is chock full of stunning revelations about how the platform was used, under former management, to stifle free speech, limit debate, and crush conservatives.
Previous batches have revealed how the platform was used to do the bidding of the deep state, but this latest group of revelations proves just how extensive the relationship was. To wit, Twitter was being used to routinely violate both the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment's free speech and expression protections without the government actually violating them.
"When #TwitterFiles reporters were given access to Twitter internal documents last year, we first focused on the company, which at times acted like a power above government," a thread by journalist Matt Taibbi outlining the latest findings began. "But Twitter was more like a partner to government."
It held regular "industry meetings" with the FBI and DHS and established a formal system to receive content reports from various government entities, including HHS, Treasury, NSA, and local police, Taibbi noted. Spreadsheets containing hundreds or even thousands of account names for review were frequently included in emails from the FBI, DHS, and other agencies. However, these spreadsheets were often deleted shortly after being received, he said.
"Many were obvious 'misinformation,' like accounts urging people to vote the day after an election. But other official 'disinfo' reports had shakier reasoning. The highlighted Twitter analysis here disagrees with the FBI about accounts deemed a 'proxy of Russian actors,'" the journalist noted.
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5. Many were obvious “misinformation,” like accounts urging people to vote the day after an election.
But other official "disinfo" reports had shakier reasoning. The highlighted Twitter analysis here disagrees with the FBI about accounts deemed a “proxy of Russian actors": pic.twitter.com/9AZ7jZFfWi
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 9, 2023
"Then we saw 'disinfo' lists where evidence was even less clear. This list of 378 'Iranian State Linked Accounts' includes an Iraq vet once arrested for blogging about the war, a former Chicago Sun-Times reporter and Truthout, a site that publishes Noam Chomsky," his post continued.
6. Then we saw "disinfo" lists where evidence was even less clear. This list of 378 “Iranian State Linked Accounts” includes an Iraq vet once arrested for blogging about the war, a former Chicago Sun-Times reporter and Truthout, a site that publishes Noam Chomsky. pic.twitter.com/eaGRruJNUk
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 9, 2023
A large portion of censorship requests did not originate directly from the government. When asked if Twitter's marketing department could claim that the company detects misinformation with the assistance of "outside experts," a Twitter executive provided a response:
9. Asked if Twitter’s marketing department could say the company detects “misinfo” with help of “outside experts,” a Twitter executive replied: pic.twitter.com/oYjKUqE96I
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 9, 2023
"We came to think of this grouping – state agencies like DHS, FBI, or the Global Engagement Center (GEC), along with 'NGOs that aren’t academic' and an unexpectedly aggressive partner, commercial news media – as the Censorship-Industrial Complex," Taibbi noted, adding that Twitter actually provided a list identifying the entities within that group in 2020.
"The National Endowment for Democracy, the Atlantic Council’s DFRLab, and Hamilton 68’s creator, the Alliance for Securing Democracy, are key," he wrote.
11. Who’s in the Censorship-Industrial Complex? Twitter in 2020 helpfully compiled a list for a working group set up in 2020.
The National Endowment for Democracy, the Atlantic Council’s DFRLab, and Hamilton 68’s creator, the Alliance for Securing Democracy, are key: pic.twitter.com/7lLlL2tcjN
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 9, 2023
"NGOs ideally serve as a check on corporations and the government. Not long ago, most of these institutions viewed themselves that way. Now, intel officials, 'researchers,' and executives at firms like Twitter are effectively one team - or Signal group, as it were," Taibbi noted.
Face it: The best thing to happen for free speech advocates was Elon Musk purchasing Twitter.
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