Hours after the third tranche of ‘Twitter Files’ was released to the public, former US President Donald Trump thanked Elon Musk for allegedly exposing how the FBI and the Justice Department colluded with Twitter officials to manipulate the 2020 US Presidential elections.
While taking to Truth Social on Friday (December 9, US local time), Trump said, “ELON: The Twitter releases are a revelation in that they show, in a very powerful fashion, the FBI and “Justice” illegally colluding, proving conclusively, in one more very powerful way, that the 2020 Presidential Election was Rigged & Stolen.”
“What everyone is REALLY waiting to see, however, is the Twitter information and thought process leading up to the time of the so-called “Election,” and ultimately the “Deplatforming” of the President of the United States. Big moment in history. Thank you!” he further added.
.@realDonaldTrump thanks @ElonMusk for his disclosures and seeks more info from @Twitter Files. pic.twitter.com/WUNb3wP3F9
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 9, 2022
It must be mentioned that Truth Social is an alternate social media platform, created by Trump Media & Technology Group, after the former US President was de-platformed from Twitter in the wake of the US Capitol riots of January 6, 2021.
While responding to his message on Twitter, Musk informed that transcripts of more internal communications will be released in the coming days. Last month, Elon Musk reinstated the Twitter account of Donald Trump.
Coming soon …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2022
Revelations made by Twitter Files 3.0
On Friday (December 9, US local time), the third tranche of confidential conversations between top Twitter executives was released on the micro-blogging platform.
Journalist Matt Taibbi pointed out that the ‘intellectual framework’ to de-platform former US President Donald Trump was laid in the months preceding the January 6 incident in Washington.
“Before J6, Twitter was a unique mix of automated, rules-based enforcement, and more subjective moderation by senior executives,” he emphasised. While referring to the ‘Twitter Files 2.0‘, he said that tactics to manipulate tweet visibility were adopted to censor the likes of Donald Trump.
9. Before J6, Twitter was a unique mix of automated, rules-based enforcement, and more subjective moderation by senior executives. As @BariWeiss reported, the firm had a vast array of tools for manipulating visibility, most all of which were thrown at Trump (and others) pre-J6.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022
The first part of the ‘Twitter Files 3.0’ revealed that the senior executives of Twitter Inc. were in constant touch with federal agencies ahead of the 2020 US Presidential elections.
Matt Taibbi informed that they began enforcing rules arbitrarily and using pretexts to justify their actions. Following the US Capitol riots, the meetings between top Twitter employees and federal agencies intensified.
Matt Taibbi unearthed how the mindset of top Twitter executives evolved between late 2020 and early 2021. He informed that a channel titled ‘us2020_xfn_enforcement’ was created to discuss the censorship of high-profile accounts (also called Very Important Tweeters) in the context of US elections.
14. On October 8th, 2020, executives opened a channel called “us2020_xfn_enforcement.” Through J6, this would be home for discussions about election-related removals, especially ones that involved “high-profile” accounts (often called “VITs” or “Very Important Tweeters”). pic.twitter.com/xH29h4cYt9
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022
The first part of ‘Twitter Files 3.0’ exposed how the likes of Vijaya Gadde (former Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust at Twitter) and Yoel Roth (former Global Head of Trust & Safety) were making decisions based on whims and fancies.
“The latter group were a high-speed Supreme Court of moderation, issuing content rulings on the fly, often in minutes and based on guesses, gut calls, even Google searches, even in cases involving the President,” journalist Matt Taibbi noted.
17. During this time, executives were also clearly liaising with federal enforcement and intelligence agencies about moderation of election-related content. While we’re still at the start of reviewing the #TwitterFiles, we’re finding out more about these interactions every day.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022
He also added that the duo was “clearly liaising with federal enforcement and intelligence agencies about moderation of election-related content”.
The third tranche of ‘Twitter Files’ revealed how the Federal Bureau of Investigation routinely sent tweets, posted by Republican candidates, to the moderation team for expunction.
25. The FBI-flagged tweet then got circulated in the enforcement Slack. Twitter cited Politifact to say the first story was “proven to be false,” then noted the second was already deemed “no vio on numerous occasions.” pic.twitter.com/LyyZ1opWAh
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 10, 2022
The FBI alleged that a tweet by John Basham, a Republican and former Councilor, made false allegations about 20-25% of mail ballots being rejected due to errors.
“Twitter cited Politifact to say the first story was “proven to be false”, then noted the second was already deemed “no vio on numerous occasions,” Matt Taibbi noted. It thus showed how Twitter executives readily agreed to FBI diktats and how the federal agency intervened in political affairs.
