FBI accused of treating Twitter like subsidiary
The FBI and other law enforcement organizations treated Twitter as a “subsidiary,” flagging numerous accounts for purportedly harmful “misinformation” since January of 2020, according to the sixth installment of the “Twitter Files” released Friday.
Independent journalist Matt Taibbi described the FBI’s relationship with Twitter as having a “master-canine quality” with “constant and pervasive” contact between the bureau and the social media giant.
“Between January 2020 and November 2022, there were over 150 emails between the FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth,” Taibbi wrote, referring to the executive who helped suppress The Post’s reporting on first son Hunter Biden’s extensive overseas business interests.
Taibbi also found that a “surprisingly high number” of the FBI’s missives were requests “for Twitter to take action on election misinformation,” including obvious jokes from accounts with low number of followers.
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As recently as Nov. 22 of this year, for example the FBI’s San Francisco office sent an email flagging four accounts that “may potentially constitute violations of Twitter’s Terms of Service.”
One account on the list tweeted mostly satire, but Twitter employees still rushed to “look for reasons to suspend” the account for “civic misinformation.”
While conservatives have suggested that Twitter’s enforcement actions have unfairly targeted them, Taibbi said the FBI also flagged left-wing accounts in fits of overzealous speech policing.
In one case, the FBI noted a user with the name “ULTRA MAGA” who tweeted on Nov. 8, midterm election day: “Americans, Vote today. Democrats you vote Wednesday 9th.”
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Note, Twitter never suspended Joe Biden for using that term as part of his election rhetoric. That looks like part of their double standard with President Trump.
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