On Friday (December 9, US local time), the third tranche of confidential conversations between top Twitter executives was released on the micro-blogging platform. Dubbed the first part of ‘Twitter Files 3.0’, the internal communication revealed how employees flouted Twitter policies, created rules on the go, and were hand-in-glove with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The story, covered in detail by independent journalist Matt Taibbi, focuses on the period before the 2020 US Presidential elections and the US Capitol riots of January 6, 2021.
The Twitter Files, Part 3
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2022
Deplatforming the President https://t.co/nvdlRNYXxA
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
Donald Trump was banned from Twitter in the aftermath of the US Capitol riots. The decision was controversial and left even some Twitter employees wondering whether it was the first time that a sitting Head of State was suspended.
“As soon as they finished banning Trump, Twitter execs started processing new power. They prepared to ban future presidents and White Houses – perhaps even Joe Biden. The “new administration,” says one exec, “will not be suspended by Twitter unless absolutely necessary.” Matt Taibbi revealed how top Twitter executives dwelled on their new-found power.
The Twitter moderation team justified the ouster of a sitting US President under the “context surrounding actions by Trump and supporters over the course of the election and frankly last 4+ years.”
7. Twitter executives removed Trump in part over what one executive called the “context surrounding”: actions by Trump and supporters “over the course of the election and frankly last 4+ years.” In the end, they looked at a broad picture. But that approach can cut both ways. pic.twitter.com/Trgvq5jmhS
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022
FBI intervention and US Presidential elections
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.
“After J6, internal Slacks show Twitter executives getting a kick out of intensified relationships with federal agencies,” he said. The independent journalist pointed out how Yoel Roth, who justified censoring the ‘Hunter Biden story’, lamented that he could not conceal his meetings with the FBI.
11. After J6, internal Slacks show Twitter executives getting a kick out of intensified relationships with federal agencies. Here’s Trust and Safety head Yoel Roth, lamenting a lack of “generic enough” calendar descriptions to concealing his “very interesting” meeting partners. pic.twitter.com/kgC4eGykcO
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022
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.
“There was at least some tension between Safety Operations – a larger department whose staffers used a more rules-based process for addressing issues like porn, scams, and threats – and a smaller, more powerful cadre of senior policy execs like Roth and Gadde,” the independent journalist added.
15. There was at least some tension between Safety Operations – a larger department whose staffers used a more rules-based process for addressing issues like porn, scams, and threats – and a smaller, more powerful cadre of senior policy execs like Roth and Gadde.
— 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.
He also added that the duo was “clearly liaising with federal enforcement and intelligence agencies about moderation of election-related content”.
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
The transcripts of internal communications also revealed how confusion persisted among the top executives about their abrupt decision to censor content on Twitter. They were also seen looking out for excuses to justify their decision-making process before the public.
19. Pickles quickly asks if they could “just say “partnerships.” After a pause, he says, “e.g. not sure we’d describe the FBI/DHS as experts.” pic.twitter.com/d3EaYJb5eR
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022
The third tranche of ‘Twitter Files’ also showed how Yoel Roth, the former Global Head of Trust & Safety, made excuses to skip meetings with the FBI and the DHS. It also revealed how the Federal Bureau of Investigation routinely sent tweets, posted by Republican candidates, to the moderation team for expunction.
24. Here, the FBI sends reports about a pair of tweets, the second of which involves a former Tippecanoe County, Indiana Councilor and Republican named @JohnBasham claiming “Between 2% and 25% of Ballots by Mail are Being Rejected for Errors.” pic.twitter.com/KtigHOiEwF
— 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.
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
Matt Taibbi, who covered ‘Twitter Files 1.0’ and ‘Twitter Files 3.0’ noted that no diktat to expunge politically inconvenient tweets was made by the Trump administration.
“Examining the entire election enforcement Slack, we didn’t see one reference to moderation requests from the Trump campaign, the Trump White House, or Republicans generally. We looked. They may exist: we were told they do. However, they were absent here,” he emphasised.
27. Examining the entire election enforcement Slack, we didn’t see one reference to moderation requests from the Trump campaign, the Trump White House, or Republicans generally. We looked. They may exist: we were told they do. However, they were absent here.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 10, 2022
Hunter Biden story and its censorship by Twitter
The ‘Twitter Files 3.0’ also exposed how Yoel Roth not only met FBI officials weekly but also the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
Roth reported to the FBI, “We blocked the NYP story, then unblocked it (but said the opposite)… comms is angry, reporters think we’re idiots… in short, FML” (fuck my life).”
21. Roth’s report to FBI/DHS/DNI is almost farcical in its self-flagellating tone:
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 9, 2022
“We blocked the NYP story, then unblocked it (but said the opposite)… comms is angry, reporters think we’re idiots… in short, FML” (fuck my life). pic.twitter.com/sTaWglhaJt
It is notable here that in the last weeks of the 2020 US presidential elections, the New York Post published an explosive story about Hunter Biden’s problematic emails with a Ukrainian gas company executive from Burisma.
In its report, the news outlet alleged that they had accessed material from a damaged Macbook that was brought to a service centre for repair. The customer who brought the laptop never collected or paid for the services.
The shop owner said he repeatedly tried to contact the client. Though he could not identify the owner as Hunter Biden, he said the laptop had Beau Biden Foundation’s sticker.
Column’s up: Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg censored the @nypost Hunter Biden stories before the election to hide the real Joe Biden https://t.co/bjx7cCw0hU
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) November 29, 2021
The report has several documents and mentions a video that proves that Joe Biden met a high-profile businessman from Ukraine when he was Vice President of the United States.
Reports suggested that Biden may have helped his son Hunter in his business in Ukraine using his influence as the VP of the United States. The Biden Camp categorically denied all the allegations.
It was heavily censored by both Twitter and Facebook and was branded as a piece of fake news. Initially, the left and liberal cabal dismissed the report as a hoax, but it was eventually confirmed that the laptop’s contents did really belong to Hunter Biden.
Following the restriction of the NYP report, Twitter justified the action by claiming that its policies forbid the sharing of compromised information. After the elections were over and Joe Biden was declared president, it later became clear that the NY Post story was true.
A study conducted by Media Research Center alleged that “full awareness of the Hunter Biden scandal would have led 9.4% of Biden voters to abandon the Democratic candidate, flipping all six of the swing states he won to Trump, giving the President 311 electoral votes.”
Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk is releasing information about internal communications at Twitter in the lead up to the US Presidential elections of 2020. Last month, the new Twitter owner vowed to restore public trust in the platform by increasing transparency about the manner in which the Twitter moderation team functioned.
