TWITTERFILES – In a series of messages published on February 19, investigative journalist Matt Taibbi talks about the Two weights, two measures of the media treatment of the “Twitter Files” across the Atlantic. These internal documents to the social network were made public after the takeover of the blue bird by Elon Musk. As their investigation progressed by a team of journalists, they made it possible to expose crucial information, including the incredible stranglehold of numerous US intelligence agencies (including the FBI in the first place) in order to control the information or the censorship of content operated at the request of politicians. Taibbi notices the almost total silence of the mainstream media about them except… when it comes to evoking the failings of Donald Trump. This inept partisanship, which the journalist deplores, should not make us forget the issues of the Twitter Files which go beyond the question of their politicization.
In le 16ème “thread” (message thread) of the Twitter Files, Matt Taibbi begins with a reminder of the many revelations that have been made possible in recent months, thanks to the availability of internal documents to the social network, after its takeover by Elon Musk.
2. The #TwitterFiles have revealed a lot: thousands of moderation requests from every corner of government, Feds mistaking both conservatives and leftists for fictional Russians, even Twitter deciding on paper to cede moderation authority to the “U.S. intelligence community”: pic.twitter.com/njklzvX0n1
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 19, 2023
We note in particular the affair of Hunter Biden’s laptop, the censorship of content linked to Covid-19, the banishment of Donald Trump from the social network, the stranglehold of federal and government agencies on the Twitter moderation team, campaigns of influence operations of the Pentagon, the so-called RussiaGate or even the influence of Pfizer in order to censor compromising content for its vaccine products.
Very low mainstream media coverage
Despite the many unpublished information revealed in the context of the Twitter Files, internal documents and supporting evidence, “these have not been covered by mainstream media for the past two months”lamented Matt Taibbi.
France-Evening covered all of this information as early as December 2022 (ongoing series), unlike the French mainstream media which kept almost complete silence on this affair or attacked Elon Musk to man
Taibbi points to the silence of the mainstream media on the other side of the Atlantic. But what happens when, among the politicians who want to interfere with the social network for personal gain (like banishing a troublesome rival or silencing an opponent), Donald Trump appears?
Then the silence disappears: when the former president of the United States wants to delete a vehement tweet against him, that of the model and television presenter Chrissy Teignen, everyone knows it immediately.
4. Then House hearings were held last week, at which one witness told a story about Donald Trump asking to remove a mean tweet by Chrissy Teigen.
The press went bananas. Now THAT was big news! pic.twitter.com/8ynYaD0lBb
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 19, 2023
This information has been made public at a Republican Representatives Committee hearing on Twitter’s role in the removal of content related to Hunter Biden’s laptop, which took place ten days before the publication of Matt Taibbi’s “thread”.
During this, questioned by the Democratic representative Gerry Connolly (elected from the lower house, Virginia), Anika Collier Navaroli, ex-employee of the moderation team at the blue bird, revealed that the Trump administration at the White House has contacted the social network to remove a scathing tweet from model Chrissy Teigen. The latter insulted the ex-president for having criticized her husband, singer John Legend.
Matt Taibbi then joked about the media coverage of this information, which suddenly becomes crucial while all the others remain ignored. The journalist chooses to show other examples in his eyes much more important of political interference within the social network. Like the case of Democratic Senator Angus King, who “listed” Twitter social network accounts in order to muzzle them.
6. If a president freaking out about one tweeter is news, surely a U.S. Senator finking on three hundred-plus of his constituents also must be? pic.twitter.com/dUtLV8TlmV
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 19, 2023
The journalist indeed shared an email sent by the staff of the Democratic senator from Maine to Twitter, containing as an attachment an Excel list containing more than 350 accounts considered by the latter to be “suspects”. “If a president freaking out over a tweet is news, a senator slamming over 300 of his constituents must be too, right?” persifle Taibbi.
The list contains the nicknames and identities of the accounts but also comments explaining why these accounts were targeted by Angus King. To support his request, the senator evokes the use by some of these “twittos” of the term “immigration”, see their “excitement for a Rand Paul visit” or notice the simple fact that they are followed on the social network by a Republican senator. It is, in short, a surveillance and a political filing.
But journalist Matt Taibbi does not want to stick to the Democrats. He takes care to balance the scales and cites the example of a senior US State Department official, known for his Republican commitment, who acts in the same way: Mark Lenzi. The latter had asked to delete 14 Twitter accounts suspected of being “bots” (robots) in the service of Russian propaganda.
6. If a president freaking out about one tweeter is news, surely a U.S. Senator finking on three hundred-plus of his constituents also must be? pic.twitter.com/dUtLV8TlmV
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 19, 2023
The journalist notes that it is particularly worrying that a civil servant uses the email address of his public administration to request such a request from the management of Twitter. As Taibbi reminds us, no proof has ever been provided demonstrating a Russian influence within the American political and media sphere.
On the other hand, there exists lots of evidence which show that an American politician, and not a Russian one, wanted to manipulate information. An elected member of the lower house (California), Adam Schiff, wanted to censor a journalist after presenting him as a “QAnon conspiracy”. Its sources are however perfectly verifiable.
This story was completely ignored by the media. The journalist then concludes that the mainstream media know perfectly well what they are doing by choosing certain revelations over others: focusing on inane partisanship in order to politicize the Twitter Files affair.
14. The real story emerging in the #TwitterFiles is about a ballooning federal censorship bureaucracy that’s not aimed at either the left or the right per se, but at the whole population of outsiders, who are being systematically defined as threats.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 19, 2023
Matt Taibbi then discusses the true importance of the Twitter Files: “The real story emerging from the #TwitterFiles is that of a rapidly expanding federal censorship bureaucracy that targets neither the left nor the right per se, but the general population (…)” , perceived as a threat.
He then announces how the American intelligence agencies have constantly turned against their own population in order to track and monitor them. The goal? Analyze the opinions of millions of American citizens, in particular via one of them little known: the GEC, the Global Engagement Center.
This will be the subject of the next part of the Twitter Files, on France-Evening.
