Twitter Files Archives

Democratic lawmaker threatens Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi with jail time

April 21, 2023
The release of the Twitter Files by journalist Matt Taibbi revealed secrets behind how the social media platform operates and the government’s alleged influence. Now, a Democratic lawmaker wants the journalist responsible for releasing the files to face serious repercussions, threatening up to five years of jail time.

In a letter from top House Democrat Stacey Plaskett to Taibbi, the congresswoman accuses the journalist of intentionally lying to Congress under oath at March’s congressional hearing.

Taibbi had mixed up the acronyms of agencies he referred to, saying CISA when referring to a government cybersecurity agency. What he meant to say was CIS, a private internet security firm swept up in the Twitter Files. Taibbi later addressed and corrected the error.

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press advocacy groups are calling out Plaskett for wanting to press serious charges against the journalist over his remarks.

“It’s hard to think of anything more chilling to a free press than threatening a journalist with prison time based on a single, corrected mistake in their reporting,” Aaron Terr, advocacy director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said.
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Musk says US gov’t had ‘full access’ to Twitter users’ DMs: Media Miss

April 17, 2023

Twitter DMs might not be as private as users think they are, according to a recent claim made by Twitter CEO Elon Musk. In an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Musk alleged that the U.S. government had access to users’ direct messages on the social media platform.

“The degree to which various government agencies effectively had full access to everything that was going on at Twitter blew my mind,” Musk said. When asked if this included people’s direct messages, he replied, “yes.”

While Musk did not provide any evidence to support his claim in the teaser clip of the interview tweeted by Carlson, his comments have raised concerns among Twitter users. This comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the relationship between tech companies and government agencies.

The “Twitter Files,” a collection of internal documents published publicly on the platform, have shed light on the extent of contact between government agencies and Twitter employees in recent months. The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government held a hearing on the Twitter Files in March.

In addition to his comments on Twitter DMs, Musk also spoke about the dangers of artificial intelligence in the interview with Carlson, saying that it had the potential for “civilizational destruction.”

Straight Arrow News aims to identify when stories are being underreported on either side of the political aisle and media landscape. This story is a Media Miss for left-leaning outlets, with most sources reporting it being right-leaning outlets, according to Ground.News.
Twitter’s legacy checkmark is going away. Here are 5 Musk-made changes.

March 31, 2023

It’s been less than six months since Elon Musk closed on Twitter for $44 billion after backing out and facing litigation over the matter. There’s still a question as to whether it’s better or worse under the world’s second wealthiest person’s leadership. But, it’s certainly different. Here are the ways he’s changed the platform in this week’s Five For Friday.

#5: Twitter Blue

Before Musk, Twitter’s verified check signified an elite group of users. Just ask anyone with a legacy verified account, and they’ll tell you how important the checks are. But Twitter Blue made it so anyone willing to pay $8 on the web could procure the highly coveted check mark. It’s $11 if you sign up from an iOS or Android device so the company can make up the respective app store fees of 30%. Twitter Blue subscribers can edit tweets, get early access to new features and eventually see fewer ads. Musk said the platform will start taking away the old guard’s checks in April. Full disclosure: At the time of writing, Simone Del Rosario has a legacy verified account, although it provides the caveat that she “may or may not be notable.”

#4: Verified ‘For You’

It seems the idea of verified accounts is important to the Twitter ecosystem. Musk announced this week that only verified accounts will show up in the platform’s ‘For You’ section, which uses its algorithm to recommend content from people you don’t follow. He claims it’s the only way to combat bots taking over the platform, something he was concerned about amid negotiations to buy the company. Users will also need a blue check to take part in Twitter polls too, a feature Musk himself has used quite a bit since taking over.

#3: Account reinstatement

Over the years, Twitter has banned a whole host of controversial figures including Alex Jones, Tila Tequila and ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli. When Musk took over, he wanted a fresh start and reinstated folks like kickboxer Andrew Tate, who apparently has a massive following for being a misogynist. He was later roasted by climate activist Greta Thunberg before being arrested in Romania on sex trafficking charges. Former President Donald Trump was also reinstated after being banned following the events of Jan. 6, 2021. But he never returned, opting to stick to his own platform Truth Social. Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, also made a brief return before getting banned again. Jones, Tequila, and Shkreli have yet to get a Twitter reprieve.

#2: No more Trust and Safety

Shortly after taking over, Musk disbanded the platform’s Trust and Safety Council. It was a group of 100 independent advisors created in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation and self-harm, among other issues on Twitter. Prior to doing away with the council, studies showed hate speech had already spiked on the platform since Musk’s takeover. But for his part, Musk claims he defeated the hate bots. Independent analyses say otherwise.

#1: Twitter Files

Musk’s Twitter, or Twitter 2.0, has been more transparent than previous leadership. He tapped independent journalists like Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss to report on the Twitter Files, a series of select internal documents from the company. The Twitter Files have covered issues like the platform’s moderation of the Hunter Biden laptop story from the New York Post, Jan. 6, COVID-19 and Twitter’s dealings with the U.S. government, just to name a few. He also said he will make Twitter’s recommendation algorithm open source as of March 31. Parts of Twitter’s source code have apparently already been leaked, according to court filings.
‘Twitter Files’ House subcommittee hearing marred by grandstanding

March 10, 2023

Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, two of the journalists credited with publishing “The Twitter Files,” testified at a hearing in front of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government Thursday. Taibbi and Shellenberger published Twitter Files threads on the social media app after Elon Musk gave them access to internal communication.

The Twitter Files revealed the FBI paid Twitter for information requests and the government asked the company to penalize accounts spreading so-called “misinformation.” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, expressed concern regarding the federal government’s relationship with Big Tech.

“Now think about that. The federal government is saying ‘we want you to do a background check on members of the press,’” Rep. Jordan said Thursday. “Freedom of the press mentioned in the First Amendment and they want Twitter to do a background check on you before they can talk to you in America?”

Besides its subject matter, the Twitter Files hearing was highlighted by members of the House subcommittee straying from the purpose of a typical hearing. Congress.gov, the official website for federal legislative information, refers to “hearings” as “a method by which committee members gather information to inform committee business.”

Instead of genuinely questioning the journalists and gathering information, some of the elected members used their minutes to grandstand.
FTC demands Twitter communications related to Musk, names of journalists

March 8, 2023

House Republicans have published parts of the Federal Trade Commission’s demands of Elon Musk in its ongoing investigation into Twitter. The FTC is asking for internal communications related to Musk be turned over, as well as detailed information about journalists who were given access to company records that resulted in multiple “Twitter Files” expośes.

Twitter privacy at center of probe

The Federal Trade Commission is overseeing Twitter practices in the name of protecting users from potential security risks. One of the concerns raised by the FTC was that Musk allowed journalists to investigate matters of censorship.

FTC wants journalists’ names

The FTC wants to know the names of journalists involved and what internal communications Musk gave them access to. The FTC is asking Musk to answer whether the “Twitter Files” were a breach of Twitter’s privacy obligations.

Partisan divide over Musk takeover

The House Judiciary Committee criticized the FTC’s demands out of Musk. There has been a partisan divide over Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.

“There is no logical reason, for example, why the FTC needs to know the identities of journalists engaging with Twitter. There is no logical reason why the FTC, on the basis of user privacy, needs to analyze all of Twitter’s personnel decisions. And there is no logical reason why the FTC needs every single internal Twitter communication about Elon Musk,” The House panel wrote.

FTC granted oversight powers

The FTC was granted new oversight powers over Twitter last year, after Twitter settled a privacy lawsuit with the federal agency. The FTC has recently clamped down on Twitter after swift changes to its staff. Musk downsized the company from 8,000 to 2,000 employees. The FTC is investigating whether the downsize has jeopardized its security. Musk said he downsized to save the company from going bankrupt.

If the FTC finds any violations to privacy laws, the agency could seek financial penalties out of Twitter or sanction responsible executive, including Musk.
Twitter Files: BioNTech wanted COVID posts censored

January 17, 2023

The Biden administration is not the world’s only government that asked Twitter to censor posts related to COVID-19. According to the latest Twitter Files, Germany did too, in collaboration with BioNTech, one of the pharmaceutical giants behind the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

This week, the Intercept’s Lee Fang reported the latest findings from the Twitter Files. Fang focused on the email communications of Nina Morschhaeuser, a Twitter lobbyist in Europe.

Fang reports in December of 2020, Morschhaeuser said BioNTech and the German government warned her about an impending online campaign to target pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 vaccines. A spokesperson with BioNTech asked Twitter to hide the accounts of certain activists for two days, to coincide with the launch of the impending campaign.

Morschhaeuser said the authorities were worried about a flood of comments that could violate Twitter’s terms of service, and that the personal accounts of vaccine manufacturer employees could be taken over. Fang reports it is unclear what, if any, action Twitter took regarding BioNTech’s request.

Fang did report why the company made the request, however. Fang said the pharmaceutical company didn’t want to share proprietary knowledge that could lead to the development of cheap, generic vaccines. The campaign that BioNTech feared so much, according to Fang, was the launch of an international push calling for the drug industry to share intellectual property and patents associated with the COVID-19 vaccines.

Fang reports the assault on generic alternatives to the COVID-19 vaccines led to record profits for some pharmaceutical companies. Together, in 2021 Pfizer and BioNTech generated $37 billion in revenue from the shared mRNA vaccine alone. Moderna clocked in at $17.7 billion.

Fang said the high cost of vaccines meant countries like the United States, the UK and other wealthy nations got the bulk of the supply while poorer countries had to wait for what was left, which took more than a year in some cases.
House Republicans to investigate how FBI collects data on Americans

January 10, 2023

House Republicans are forming two committees to investigate two of their big priorities: government overreach and China. The select committees were approved Tuesday afternoon.

The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government

This panel will investigate how executive branch agencies, like the FBI, collect information on American citizens and how they take action against them. The committee is charged with determining whether anything the agencies do is illegal, unconstitutional or unethical.

Part of the investigation will focus on how the federal government works with private sector companies like Twitter. The “Twitter Files” revealed the company censored information at the behest of the FBI and other federal agencies.

The committee will also have the power to look into ongoing criminal investigations, which could lead to an impasse with the Justice Department that ultimately ends up in court. The Justice Department does not discuss, nor share information about ongoing matters.

The panel will be able to issue subpoenas through the House Judiciary Committee.

The Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party

This group will work to submit policy recommendations and investigate China’s economic, technological and security advancements. The committee also seeks to understand how that will impact competition with the United States.

“It would look at all aspects, from economics to COVID, and when we fell into COVID, not knowing whether we could have medical supplies because China controlled so much. We’ve since learned how they’re buying farmland and stealing our intellectual property,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, said during a speech before the vote.

McCarthy publicly pleaded for Democrats to join the effort and make the committee as bipartisan as possible. If the 365-65 vote to approve it is any indication, the committee will be strongly bipartisan.

“I’ve heard my colleagues on both sides say that the threat posed by Communist China is serious. I fully agree. This is an issue that transcends political parties. And creating the Select Committee on China is our best avenue for addressing it,” McCarthy said.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., hopes the committee will help hold China accountable for its human rights abuses. He said China has gotten away with wrongdoing for years while simultaneously becoming more powerful through its trade agreements with the United States.

“We have stood by as the Chinese embassy and the Ministry of State Security officials have harassed people of Chinese heritage and nationality living lawfully in the United States. We have not done all we can do for the people of Hong Kong, Tibet and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” Smith said during a speech on the House floor.

The group has to submit policy proposals by the end of the year.

Neither of these committees will last forever, they will automatically shut down with the end of this Congress in two years.
Pfizer executive, White House involved in COVID censorship on social media

January 10, 2023

It’s now obvious whether it was Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp, the federal government actively tried to censor content it didn’t like about COVID-19 on social media platforms. According to a new Twitter Files dump, a Pfizer executive was also interested in censoring posts.

Independent journalist Alex Berenson reported the latest Twitter Files findings. On his “Unreported Truths” Substack newsletter, Berenson highlighted exchanges between a Twitter employee and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member and former FDA commissioner.

Gottlieb took issue with one tweet from Dr. Brett Giroir, another former head of the FDA. Giroir called attention to an Israeli study proving natural immunity to COVID-19 was more effective than vaccine-derived immunity.

Because of this, Giroir argued mandates demanding proof of vaccination weren’t scientifically justified. However, far from being a vaccine denier, Giroir also said people with no history of infection should get vaccinated.

Even though emails show Giroir’s tweet didn’t violate any of Twitter’s rules, the pressure campaign Gottlieb launched from his Pfizer office resulted in Twitter labeling Giroir’s tweet as “misleading” and blocked most people from seeing it.

COVID-19 vaccines accounted for about half of Pfizer’s $81 billion in sales in 2021.

While Twitter was busy giving access and clout to the government and pharmaceutical giants, the Biden White House was growing angry with Facebook for not following suit. Newly released documents and emails show the White House’s director of digital media, Rob Flaherty, told a Facebook executive the White House thought the social media platform was a top driver of vaccine hesitancy.

Flaherty demanded Facebook make changes to its policies so posts that didn’t cast vaccines in a positive light be removed. Facebook made several changes to its practices dealing with the posts in question, resulting in the censorship of thousands of Americans.

The documents relating to Facebook and Rob Flaherty were released as part of an ongoing free speech lawsuit brought by the Attorneys General of Missouri and Louisiana against the Biden administration.
Twitter Files: Rep. Schiff wanted journalist Paul Sperry suspended

January 4, 2023

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., served as the chair of the House Intelligence Committee. He should know what a free press means. However, according to the latest Twitter Files release, the California congressman wanted Twitter to suspend a journalist from the platform for exercising his First Amendment rights. Independent journalist Matt Taibbi published the latest volume of the Twitter Files Tuesday night to the platform.

Commissioned by new CEO Elon Musk, the Twitter Files consist of reports and internal documents that show how Twitter and federal agencies like the FBI and DHS worked in together to censor content it deemed as “misinformation” or “disinformation.”

In Taibbi’s Tuesday file dump, one of his Tweets highlighted an email exchange between Twitter employees about a request from former Chairman Schiff’s office.

Schiff wanted Twitter to ban journalist Paul Sperry and others from the site. The email shows an accusation from Schiff’s office saying Sperry was promoting false QAnon conspiracies. Schiff also accused Sperry of harassment, however the name of the alleged victim was redacted.

The email exchange showed Schiff’s office also wanted Twitter to remove any and all content, quotes, retweets and reactions to content concerning House Intelligence Committee staff members.

Twitter refused the requests, with one unidentified employee responding, “We don’t do that.” Sperry was suspended from Twitter later for unrelated violations. Sperry’s account was reactivated this week, however, and he immediately responded to Taibbi’s latest Twitter Files.

Sperry called his two-year suspension “political.” He suggested the real reason Schiff wanted him off Twitter was because of Sperry’s reporting on the Trump White House whistleblower. The revelations made by that whistleblower concerned the now infamous call between former President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. President Trump was eventually impeached because of the phone call, but was not convicted by the Senate.

Conservatives online were quick to lambast congressman Schiff for apparently forgetting that U.S. journalists, even ones he may not like, have a First Amendment right to ply their trade.
Musk’s Twitter takeover tops 5 biggest business stories of 2022

December 30, 2022

The last 12 months have been a rollercoaster for business and economic news. Unfortunately, most of us are entering 2023 with a lot less fortune. Here are the biggest stories that dominated 2022 headlines in this week’s Five for Friday.

#5: FTX Scandal

Cryptocurrency was already facing turmoil amid the long crypto winter. Then, the end of the year brought scandal in the sector. It will take months or years to get to the bottom of how FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly muddied the finances between the exchange and his hedge fund Alameda Research. Billions in customer and investor funds are missing and Bankman-Fried is facing eight criminal charges and is living with his mom and dad under house arrest.

#4: Inflation nation

Inflation could have been 2022’s word of the year, but for some reason Oxford’s is “goblin mode.” Prices peaked in June, up 9.1% year-over-year, a 4-decade high. Congress tried to deal with it by passing the massive Inflation Reduction Act, which doesn’t immediately reduce inflation. The Federal Reserve also tightened monetary policy while raising interest rates from near zero to above four percent. Inflation still sits well above the Fed’s threshold of 2%.

#3: Disney v. Florida

Disney ended up in the middle of the controversy over Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Facing pressure to take a stand from the company’s employees, then-CEO Bob Chapek eventually said the company was against the legislation from the start but had kept quiet in public. Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and the state’s legislature retaliated by revoking Disney’s special tax status that allowed the company to operate as its own city. While Chapek was able to weather that storm, he was fired in November after huge losses in streaming. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger swung in to save the day and helm the House of Mouse once again.

#2: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Prices were already high when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, which sent energy and commodities prices surging even further. Oil soared over $120 per barrel over the uncertainty, with Russia accounting for around 10% of global supply. The E.U. had an even harder time with skyrocketing energy prices due to its reliance on Russia for natural gas and coal. Wheat prices also spiked since Ukraine accounts for roughly 10% of the world market. It took months for the United Nations to work out a deal with Russia to get Ukrainian exports flowing again.

#1: Twitter Takeover

The Elon Musk Twitter saga has easily been the biggest business story of the year. Let’s take a brief look at what happened. Musk offered to buy Twitter and the board eventually accepted. He then tried to back out of the deal, blaming bots on the platform, and was sued by Twitter. Musk later decided to move forward with the $44 billion deal. He took Twitter private and became the CEO. He orchestrated the Twitter Files, and amid uproar over his “free speech absolutist” approach, he conducted a Twitter poll asking whether he should step down, a move the majority of voters supported. Musk eventually agreed to do so once he finds a successor. All of this has taken its toll on Tesla’s stock, which has plummeted.

Democratic lawmaker threatens Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi with jail time

Twitter’s legacy checkmark is going away. Here are 5 Musk-made changes.

‘Twitter Files’ House subcommittee hearing marred by grandstanding

FTC demands Twitter communications related to Musk, names of journalists

Twitter Files: BioNTech wanted COVID posts censored

House Republicans to investigate how FBI collects data on Americans

Pfizer executive, White House involved in COVID censorship on social media

Twitter Files: Rep. Schiff wanted journalist Paul Sperry suspended

Musk’s Twitter takeover tops 5 biggest business stories of 2022

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Democratic lawmaker threatens Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi with jail time

Musk says US gov’t had ‘full access’ to Twitter users’ DMs: Media Miss

Twitter’s legacy checkmark is going away. Here are 5 Musk-made changes.

‘Twitter Files’ House subcommittee hearing marred by grandstanding

FTC demands Twitter communications related to Musk, names of journalists

Twitter Files: BioNTech wanted COVID posts censored

House Republicans to investigate how FBI collects data on Americans

Pfizer executive, White House involved in COVID censorship on social media

Twitter Files: Rep. Schiff wanted journalist Paul Sperry suspended

Musk’s Twitter takeover tops 5 biggest business stories of 2022