DEVELOPING STORY: The third batch of Elon Musk’s Twitter Files delivered some explosive admissions that federal agencies, including the FBI, were actively meeting with Twitter executives during the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election and afterwards.
The files, which will be released throughout the weekend, reveal what led to the removal of former President Trump’s account, journalist Matt Taibbi wrote.
“During this time, executives were also clearly liaising with federal enforcement and intelligence agencies about moderation of election-related content. While we’re still at the start of reviewing the #TwitterFiles, we’re finding out more about these interactions every day,” Taibbi added.
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In “part one” of the third installment, which dates from October 2020-January 6th, Substack writer Matt Taibbi told his followers, “We’ll show you what hasn’t been revealed: the erosion of standards within the company in months before J6, decisions by high-ranking executives to violate their own policies, and more, against the backdrop of ongoing, documented interaction with federal agencies.”
One unnamed executive alleged the “context surrounding” the actions of Trump and his supporters “over the course of the election and frankly last 4+ years” contributed to the ban.
“In the end, they looked at a broad picture. But that approach can cut both ways,” Taibbi wrote. “The bulk of the internal debate leading to Trump’s ban took place in those three January days. However, the intellectual framework was laid in the months preceding the Capitol riots.”
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After alluding to the second installment of the Twitter Files that addressed the shadowbanning of conservatives, Taibbi reported, “As the election approached, senior executives – perhaps under pressure from federal agencies, with whom they met more as time progressed – increasingly struggled with rules, and began to speak of “vios” as pretexts to do what they’d likely have done anyway.”
Taibbi then shared internal Slack messages from Yoel Roth, the former head of trust and safety at Twitter, who made light out of heightened discussions with federal agencies following Jan. 6. Roth joked about the lack of “generic enough” calendar descriptions to conceal the “very interesting” meetings he had.
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“This first installment covers the period before the election through January 6th. Tomorrow, @ShellenbergerMD will detail the chaos inside Twitter on January 7th. On Sunday, @bariweiss will reveal the secret internal communications from the key date of January 8th.”
He also had this to say: “We’ll show you what hasn’t been revealed: the erosion of standards within the company in months before J6, decisions by high-ranking executives to violate their own policies, and more, against the backdrop of ongoing, documented interaction with federal agencies.”
Trump was banned from Twitter amid critics’ concerns and allegations that his rhetoric about a stolen presidential election and wholesale voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election had incited supporters to storm the Capitol. On Jan. 6, hundreds breached the landmark, intent on disrupting congressional certification of Joe Biden’s win. Just prior to the breach, Trump led a nearby rally, urging attendeeds to march on the Capitol in protest.
Trump, who relied heavily on Twitter during his administration to voice opinions, announce policies and assail critics, has since formed his own social media company, Truth Social. Though Musk has said Trump’s feed is no longer off limits, Trump has indicated he is not planning to resume his Twitter postings.