Journalist Matt Taibbi shared a thread on Twitter in which he described emails and papers he got from Twitter workers and Elon Musk that imply Twitter attempted to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election. At issue in Taibbi’s telling is the controversy surrounding the media’s coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop and the ensuing lack of clarity among Twitter’s management team over how to handle the spread of potentially false information. Musk and Taibbi promised more records would be released in the upcoming days, calling this thread “Part 1” of The Twitter Files.
The Twitter Files
Since Elon Musk announced in late October that he had acquired control of the social media platform Twitter, the company has been mired in controversy. Not deterred by criticism, Musk has started a new thread explaining how Twitter leaders and staff may have deliberately affected the 2020 United States presidential election. You can read the entire thread below.
1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022
Leaks from within Twitter’s moderating and security staff have been nicknamed “The Twitter Files.” The chat logs and emails were released in a Twitter thread by journalist Matt Taibbi, and they indicate conversations among former key executives at Twitter, such as former Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, about how the firm should handle tweets pertaining to the 2020 U.S. presidential election. According to Taibbi, workers of Twitter were actively lobbied by members of both the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States to remove specific tweets or restrict accounts. According to Taibbi’s screenshots, many of these requests were met by Twitter.
A major focus of Taibbi’s article is the purported active censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop news article, which led to the suspension of the New York Post and the removal of tweets or the suspension of users that retweeted or reacted to the story. According to Taibbi, many Twitter employees were baffled as to why the firm took such drastic measures, including suspending the account of the then-White House press secretary, and he claims that staff realized that Twitter’s explanation for the company’s reaction was flimsy at best.
In an email to Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, Gadde explained that the account had been suspended because the tweet and accompanying news report broke Twitter’s policies against the dissemination of “hacked materials.” Despite Taibbi’s claims that Twitter employees meddled in the 2020 election by censoring content for unclear or dubious reasons, it is important to note that he also claims that both political parties asked Twitter to remove content or users on their behalf and that Twitter carried out in compliance with their queries. Nonetheless, it was noted that the democratic party made the majority of the requests.
Most fascinating is Taibbi’s contention that former CEO Jack Dorsey was kept in the dark about the company’s reaction to the Hunter Biden laptop scandal. The political backlash in the United States as a result of Gadde’s choices is another issue that Taibbi highlights. According to an email sent to Twitter by the research firm NetChoice, MPs were furious at the company’s handling of the situation and were considering taking steps to revoke Twitter’s immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Big tech propaganda
Many people’s fears about the power of social media in today’s world have been amplified by The Twitter Files. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as other similar services, have come under scrutiny for a variety of issues, including the ability to sway elections, the improper handling of user data, and the invasion of users’ privacy. The power of “Big Tech” in the dissemination of information and manipulation is on the rise, and Taibbi’s thread may add fuel to the flames.
