By The FirstOn Friday evening, Elon Musk and journalist Matt Taibbi dropped the first batch of the long awaited “Twitter Files.” The documents, which were comprised of internal communications from Twitter employees, reveal the chaotic decision-making process involved in censored the Hunter Biden laptop story as well as the social media platform’s collusion with Democrats to shut down opposing voices.
Here’s just some of what we learned.
Requests to Take Down Anti-Biden Tweets were ‘Routine’
During the 2020 campaign, communication between the Biden Campaign and Twitter’s content moderation team was so active that Taibbi described requests to delete tweets as “routine.” Taibbi writes, “One executive would write to another: ‘More to review from the Biden team.’ The reply would come back: ‘Handled.'”
Actor James Woods was Targeted by the DNC
Based on documents reviewed by Taibbi, Democrats made use of their access to Twitter content moderators by targeting both unknown individuals and celebrities alike. Amongst the celebrities targeted by the DNC was actor and outspoken conservative James Woods.
Since the revelations, Woods has vowed to sue the Democratic National Committee over the damage done to his career. On Friday evening, Woods told Fox News host Tucker Carlson, “I can guarantee you one thing more than anything else you’ll ever hear in your life: I will be getting a lawyer. I will be suing the Democratic National Committee no matter what.”
Both Parties Had a Direct Line to Twitter. But…
Twitter content moderators heavily favored Democrats due to the heavily skewed political orientation of the company’s employees.
Twitter’s Rationale for Censoring the Laptop Story was BS…and They Knew It
Twitter employees censored the New York Post story by claiming it violated the company’s policy on hacked materials. The rationale was dubious considering there was no evidence that the material had been hacked.
Furthermore, decision-makers at Twitter knew the rationale was flawed.
“The problem with the ‘hacked materials’ ruling, several sources said, was that this normally required an official/law enforcement finding of a hack,” Taibbi goes on to explain. “But such a finding never appears throughout what one executive describes as a ‘whirlwind’ 24-hour, company-wide mess.”
Twitter Erred on the Side of Censorship
Despite the fact that their reason for doing so was dubious, Twitter decision-makers decided to err on the side of censorship rather than free speech.
That decision was supported by Jim Baker, a former official at the Department of Justice who served as general counsel for the FBI, who was Deputy General Counsel for Twitter at the time the decision was made.
One Democrat Stood Up for Free Speech
In an odd twist, a lone Democrat, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, actually reached out to Twitter to express his concern that their censorship of the New York Post’s bombshell story violated the principles of the First Amendment.
Taibbi offers the details of the conversation between Rep. Khanna and Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal, policy, and trust at Twitter.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was Out of the Loop
Amazingly, then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appears to have been largely absent from the decision making process surrounding the censorship of the Hunter Biden Laptop story.
Taibbi goes on the explain that Dorsey was largely even-handed with efforts to moderate content. “There are multiple instances in the files of Dorsey intervening to question suspensions and other moderation actions, for accounts across the political spectrum,” wrote Taibbi.
There is More to Come…
Taibbi ended the bombshell thread by promising that there are more revelations to come.
