Following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk, the “Twitter Files”, which were made public in December 2022 through journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss and Lee Fang and writers Michael Shellenberger and David Zweig, remain on the agenda.
Taibbi and Weiss released the details of the files as a Twitter thread, coordinating the release of the documents with Twitter management.
Musk announced on November 29 that they will soon make their company files public on Twitter’s “restriction of freedom of expression.”
Following this announcement, Taibbi said, “What you’re about to read is the first in a series based on thousands of internal documents obtained by sources on Twitter.” The 11th of the disclosure titled “Twitter Files”, which he started with his tweet, was published.
FIRST DISCLOSURE MADE ON DECEMBER 3, 2022
Taibbi made the first of his “Twitter Files” disclosure, which he described as “a man-made Frankenstein story developing under the control of his designer”, by publicly sharing the documents on December 3, 2022, showing that he censored the news about Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden.
Taibbi, who made a series of tweets based on the files he received from Musk in the incident where the censorship correspondence between the former administration of Twitter and the Democrats was disclosed, noted that Twitter was established for extremely free communication, but over time, various control mechanisms had to be added to the platform for security reasons.
By sharing a screenshot of an email, Taibbi wrote that by 2020, it has become routine for many actors, from politicians to celebrities to companies, to delete posts from Twitter.
Taibbi, who mentioned that Biden’s team forwarded many sharing links to the company to be removed during the 2020 presidential race, said in a screenshot sharing that one of the company employees said, “There is more to examine from the Biden team.” He sent an e-mail saying, “Contained.” response was found.
Stating that he examined the files and both Democrats and Republicans made demands, Taibbi pointed out that those who were received positively were more Democrats.
Reminding that the New York Post newspaper published the disclosure files obtained from the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop on October 14, 2020, Taibbi noted that based on the correspondence between Twitter managers, the company removed the links to this news from the site and added “not safe” warnings to the posts.
Taibbi said, “They even applied the plug-in that was used for sharing such as child pornography, which prevents it from being transmitted via direct message.” used the phrases.
THE PROCESS OF SUSPENDING TRUMP’S ACCOUNT IS ALSO DISCLOSED
In the disclosure to Twitter’s former administration, it was revealed that the suspension of former US President Donald Trump’s account was discussed months ago and that it was in contact with federal institutions on this issue.
Musk disclosed the stance of the company management during the January 6 Congressional raid and the suspension of Trump’s Twitter account via Taibbi.
In internal memos from January 6-8, 2021, one of the Twitter employees asked, “Is this the first time to ban an incumbent head of state?” Taibbi, who stated that he made his comment, revealed that in the aforementioned correspondence, the suspension of Trump’s personal account, followed by the White House and the Presidential Twitter account, was discussed, and it was stated that its use could be restricted instead.
In the exposed text, it was not overlooked that the Twitter expert stated that the Trump administration will hand over the task to Joe Biden in the near future and that there will be no need to take steps towards these accounts.
FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS STARTED TO GET PRESSURE AS THE ELECTIONS CLOSED
Stating that Twitter’s suspension of accounts was based on rules-based automation and the personal savings of some executives, Taibbi stated that as the 2020 presidential elections approached, the company began to take pressure from federal institutions.
Taibbi also revealed that by making loosening in policies, intervention in high-level accounts began to be discussed and a group was established for this after January 6th.
Journalist Taibbi also shared the correspondence about the executives talking about which election-related content could be considered a violation in connection with federal institutions during the election process.
ELON MUSK LIKE TWITTER TO A “CRIME SCENE”
Michael Shellenberger made the fourth disclosure about Twitter’s former administration on December 11, 2022, while Elon Musk likened Twitter to a “crime scene”.
In the fourth wave of disclosures, Shellenberger brought up some remarkable issues from the period when former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was closed.
PRINT FROM MICHELLE OBAMA TO JACK DORSEY
Shellenberger argued that after the events of January 6, the internal and external pressures against Twitter’s then-CEO Jack Dorsey increased.
Noting that these pressures were openly carried out by well-known names such as former first lady Michelle Obama, journalist Kara Swisher and Chris Sacca, Shellenberger shared a screenshot of the statements of these people, including their demands for Trump’s account to be closed.
TWITTER STAFF’S ATTENTION TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Claiming that 96, 98, 99 percent of the political donations of Twitter employees went to Democrats in 2018, 2020 and 2022, respectively, Shellenberger retweeted the sharing of independent journalist Mark Taibbi regarding this issue.
On the other hand, Musk, in his post for the ongoing disclosure, “Twitter is both a social platform and a crime scene.” used the phrase.
TWITTER REVEALED THAT IT IS WORKING WITH THE FBI TO CENTURY SHARES
On December 17, 2022, Taibbi claimed that Twitter’s former administration censored posts and suspended accounts at the request of US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials.
In Taibbi’s posts, which stated that the FBI’s important link in the company is Yoel Roth, one of the former executives of Twitter, it was reported that in many e-mails from November 2022, the FBI prepared a list of accounts violating Twitter’s terms of service.
Taibbi noted that much of the content the FBI flags for moderation is “election misinformation”, including jokes made on accounts with few followers.
A Twitter employee also stated that they closed 7 of these accounts, temporarily closed one of them, and tweets from 9 accounts were returned to the sender for violation of misinformation policy.
Taibbi stated that officials at institutions such as the intelligence or the Department of Homeland Security pressured Twitter to control content.
FBI TRACK IN TWITTER’S LAWYERS’ INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
E-mails sent by Stacia Cardille, one of the company’s former legal advisers, to the then Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker in September 2020 have also surfaced.
The correspondence included Cardille briefing Baker, a veteran lawyer who previously served with the Justice Department and the FBI, about the company’s relationship with agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Taibbi, who suggested that FBI officials also forwarded “products” to social media executives, said they were “Department of Homeland Security bulletins that highlight the need for greater collaboration between law enforcement and private sector partners.”
It was stated that one of these “products” is a newsletter highlighting the “malicious Russian influence of Allowed Social Media Platforms”.
Taibbi, on the other hand, claimed that FBI officials had access to secret and unofficial “tools” to flag content for Twitter staff to take action.
The FBI’s San Francisco Cyber Branch Officer, Elvis Chan, in an email to Twitter’s former executive Yoel Roth, refers to a tool called “Teleporter”, a platform that allows Twitter to receive reports from the FBI.
Taibbi also noted that another confidential and unofficial “tool” called the “Partner Support Portal” has been created by the Center for Internet Security, a partner agency of the Department of Homeland Security, for state governments to flag content.
TWITTER FILES SHOW THE FBI IS TAKING ACCOUNT TO TWITTER ADMINISTRATORS
On December 19, a new one was added to the disclosure published under the name of Twitter Files.
It turned out that in 2020, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) held Twitter executives (made from outside the US) accountable for failing to adequately report “state propaganda” and demanded written responses about the company’s security practices.
It was seen that Taibbi posed intense questions to Twitter in his posts about the fact that the FBI did not adequately report “state propaganda” (made from outside the USA), and there was a disagreement between the bureau and the social media platform at the request of the FBI.
While former Twitter administrator Roth was disturbed by the FBI’s request for a written response, the FBI insisted that requests from the social media platform were a normal procedure.
FBI PRESSES TWITTER ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN
Journalist Shellenberger shared in Twitter Files Section 7 that FBI San Francisco Special Agent Elvis Chan tried to give direction on some issues, especially the Hunter Biden case, by putting pressure on Twitter executives.
“During the entirety of 2020, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies repeatedly prepared Yoel Roth to dismiss reports of Hunter Biden’s laptop as a Russian ‘hacking and leaking’ operation,” Shellenberger wrote in his tweet series. used the phrase.
The documents revealed that an FBI agent contacted Roth hours before the New York Post published Hunter Biden’s October 14, 2020 article on suspicious overseas business deals, while hinting at Twitter imposing restrictions on the article in question.
The journalist emphasized that the FBI officials persisted in asking for some information that Twitter administrators said they would not share except through legal means.
TWITTER PROTECTION TO PENTAGON ACCOUNTS
In the 8th disclosure of the Twitter Files, it was revealed that Twitter, at the request of the US military, provided internal protection to accounts of psychological warfare operations in the Middle East and gave them a verified account (blue tick) feature. The 8th disclosure was made by Lee Fang, a reporter for the Intercept news site.
In the series he shared on his Twitter account, Fang disclosed the correspondence between Twitter and the US Central Command (CENTCOM) regarding the inclusion of accounts that are part of CENTCOM’s psychological operations on the protection list (white list) against situations such as complaints and giving these accounts an approved account mark.
Writing that Twitter executives have claimed for years that the company has made efforts to detect and thwart government-sponsored covert propaganda campaigns on its platform, behind the scenes, the company provides internal protection by whitelisting some psychological operations accounts at the request of the US military, Fang said. He noted that across Iraq, Kuwait and the Middle East, Twitter uses these protected accounts to disseminate content produced to shape people’s opinions.
Fang wrote that CENTCOM first publicly showed its direct link to these accounts, but changed tactics over time and began to hide its relationship with these accounts, and wrote that the relationship between Twitter and the US army went back 5 years.
Reporter Fang said at the time that Twitter was building an expanded abuse detection system aimed at detecting malicious activity related to ISIS and other terrorist organizations operating in the Middle East, and as an indirect result of this, he frequently engaged with pro-terrorist groups controlled by the US military. noted that engaged accounts are automatically marked as “spam”. Fang shared that another account brought up legal issues in Kuwait.
Stating that Twitter’s senior management was also aware of this extensive activity of the Pentagon, Fang shared an e-mail sent to a Pentagon official by an official named Lisa Roman from Twitter.
TWITTER’S COOPERATION WITH VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS INCLUDING THE FBI, CIA AND PENTAGON
Taibbi shared in section 9 of the Twitter Files that Twitter practices surveillance and censorship in collaboration with various government agencies, including the FBI, State Department, CIA and Pentagon.
Noting that Twitter has an intense communication network with many government agencies, Taibbi asked a Twitter official of Elvis Chan, one of the FBI’s agents in San Francisco, on June 29, 2020, “Is it allowed to inform and invite the other government agency to a conference? ?” He published the e-mail asking.
Taibbi, who stated that Chan’s “other government agency” meant the CIA, wrote that thanks to the message, it was understood that one of the former Twitter administrators was a former CIA agent.
Matt Taibbi, who also disclosed the e-mails in which Twitter top officials questioned whether they were aware of the presence of a former CIA agent, said that Stacia Cardille, one of the company’s former legal advisers, was aware of the agent in question and included the statement, “I hope my silence on this matter is understood.” shared.
INTERVENTION IN TWITTER FROM FOREIGN RELATIONS TO INTERNAL MATTERS
On the other hand, Taibbi, who claims that the US government is in constant contact not only with Twitter, but also with almost all major technology companies, argued that companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, Verizon, Reddit, Pinterest are among them.
Expressing the view that Twitter has “closed the freedom window” with these inspections of government partners, Taibbi stated that intelligence agencies shared lists with the company, which include over a thousand Twitter users such as “pro-Maduro”, “pro-Cuban”, “pro-Russia”.
COVID-19 DETAIL IN “TWITTER FILES”
In the 10th disclosure made through Zweig, it was revealed that Twitter is interfering with the discussions on the Covid-19 outbreak by censoring information that contradicts the US government’s rhetoric, and discrediting doctors and experts who disagree with the government.
Sharing the internal correspondence of the former administration of Twitter on the content of the Covid-19 epidemic, Zweig wrote that the US administrations put pressure not only on Twitter, but also on Facebook, Google and Microsoft about the discussions regarding the Covid-19 outbreak.
David Zweig noted that the subject of the first meeting of the Biden administration with Twitter was Covid-19, and the main agenda of the meeting was interference with anti-vaccine accounts.
THE SHARE THAT TRUMP MADE AFTER RECOGNIZING THE VIRUS IS ALSO DISCUSSED
After Trump, who tested positive for Covid-19, was discharged from the Walter Reed military hospital after his treatment, Zweig said, “I’m fine. Don’t be afraid of Covid and don’t let it dominate your life.” He wrote that his sharing of the form was also discussed within the company.
It was also among Zweig’s shares that one of the Twitter officials asked whether the statements “Do not be afraid of Covid” violated the company’s policy, and received a response that this was not disinformation, but just a wish.
MUSK ANNOUNCED THAT THE USA WANTS 250K ACCOUNTS TO BE CLOSED FROM TWITTER
The 11th of the “Twitter Files” revelations came when Taibbi announced that the US authorities had asked Twitter to close 250,000 accounts.
Journalist Taibbi pointed out that the US Global Interaction Center (GEC) report was based on data from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and noted that there were “2 or more” official accounts among the accounts requested to be closed.
Taibbi also claimed that Twitter has also received several “surprising” requests from American officials to suspend the accounts of people they “do not like”.
Elon Musk has been supporting these disclosures by a group of journalists, which has been going on for a while, researching and sharing Twitter’s internal documents.
These threads of tweets by Musk and independent journalists, called the “Twitter Files,” are considered an effort to prove that Twitter’s former administration deliberately silenced conservatives for their political views.
