According to the latest drop of the Twitter Files, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) flagged accounts his office disliked to the social media platform, accusing Americans of being “suspicious” for reasons including being excited by a Sen. Rand Paul visit, mentioning immigration in their tweets, or being followed by a political rival.
Twitter users have been sharing their ideas, opinions, and thoughts on the platform for a long time. But in recent years, the government’s role in policing this content has come under scrutiny. An intricate system of government involvement in Twitter moderation has been exposed by the Twitter Files, with journalist Matt Taibbi compiling a collection of thousands of moderation requests.
(Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, BNN Edit)
The Twitter Files have revealed a number of details about the internal workings of the social media platform in recent months. According to the latest batch released over the weekend, it has been discovered that government officials frequently misidentify Americans as fictitious Russians. Further complicating the role of governments in online content moderation is the discovery that Twitter has given the “U.S. intelligence community,” moderation authority.
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
Despite the importance of these revelations, there hasn’t been much coverage in the mainstream media. Taibbi argues that the larger issue of government officials requesting the removal of Twitter users has not received as much attention from news organizations as more sensational stories, like Donald Trump’s request for Chrissy Teigen to delete a derogatory tweet.
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
The latest Twitter Files drop has revealed that Sen. Angus King asked for specific Twitter accounts to be deleted for various reasons.
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
Several accounts were labeled “suspicious” by King on Twitter due to factors like “Rand Paul visit excitement” and being followed by a rival, Eric Brakey.
7. Here’s Maine Senator Angus King writing to Twitter to call a slew of accounts “suspicious” for reasons like:
“Rand Paul visit excitement”
“Bot (averages 20 tweets a day)”
Being followed by rival Eric Brakey
Or, my personal favorite: “Mentions immigration.” pic.twitter.com/uoJRlfrlOp— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 19, 2023
In another example, State Department swamp monster Mark Lenzi sternly requested Twitter to delete 14 accounts that stood out, among other things, for their doubts regarding Russiagate. These requests bring up significant issues with free speech and the growing federal bureaucracy of censorship.
10. Lenzi wrote to Twitter bluntly asking to remove 14 accounts distinguished among other things by skepticism of Russiagate: “The below are some Russian controlled accounts that I think you will want to look into and delete.” pic.twitter.com/EWmStMTRpr
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 19, 2023
There is a clear First Amendment issue when officials from the government try to blacklist Twitter accounts for dubious reasons. The fact that the U.S. counterterrorism apparatus is being used against its own citizens, with disastrous results, is cause for concern.
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
Previously unknown federal organizations like the Global Engagement Center (GEC) are reportedly becoming more significant in this process, according to Taibbi.
15. Beginning in March, we’ll start using the Twitter Files to tell this larger story about how Americans turned their counterterrorism machinery against themselves, to disastrous effect, through little-known federal agencies like the Global Engagement Center (GEC).
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 19, 2023
Read more of the latest Twitter Files drop at Matt Taibbi’s Twitter account here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan