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December 17, 2022

Digging deeper into 'Twitter Files 6'

By Rajan Laad

Elon Musk’s Twitter Files series released so far has revealed how the former Twitter regime colluded with various government agencies to distort the discourse leading to the 2020 presidential election.

Yesterday, Musk released the sixth installment of his Twitter Files series.

 

Independent journalist Matt Taibbi was once again at the helm.

Taibbi revealed that the exchanges between Twitter and various federal agencies were frequent and cordial.

There were 150 emails between the FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth between January 2020 and November 2022: 

 

 

Both the FBI and the DHS frequently sent notifications to Twitter executives to act on ‘election misinformation’ which is a euphemism for dissenting material.

A September 2020 email from Twitter's former legal executive Stacia Cardille to former deputy general counsel who was once FBI general counsel Jim Baker was significant.

Cardille updated Baker about various initiatives related to the 2020 elections.

Cardille mentions a “Government-Industry Sync” meeting, where Twitter met with the FBI, DHS, and government agencies two months prior to the 2020 elections. 

Cardille wrote that she “asked if the [U.S. government] was tracking foreign threats related to non-presidential races” and the response was that the “government is not tracking foreign interference or threats related to down-ballot races.”

Cardille also wrote that she explicitly asked if there were “impediments” to the sharing of classified information “with industry,” i.e., private players. The FBI said “no impediments to sharing exist.”

The same FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home for allegedly storing classified information. 

Cardille also listed a series of “escalations” apparently raised at the meeting, which was already “handled.”

 

 

It wasn’t just the FBI dispatching notifications, Twitter preemptively supplied the FBI with information of ‘violative’ content

 

 

These were smaller accounts that merely urged people to get out and vote

 

 

There were numerous contact points for federal agencies to flag tweets or accounts.

 

 

Twitter also received reports via the Partner Support Portal, an outlet created by the Center for Internet Security, a partner organization to the DHS.

It wasn’t only the federal government agencies, state governments were also flagging 'violative' tweets.

California state officials reported a tweet from President Donald Trump.

 

 

Beyond governments, think tanks and academia also were involved.

The Election Integrity Project (EIP) was setup up at Stanford “to empower the research community, election officials, government agencies, civil society organizations, social media platforms, and others to defend our elections against those who seek to undermine them by exploiting weaknesses in the online information environment” were flagging and sending notifications to Twitter.

Their basis was information from the Center for Internet Security (CIS) which is a DHS contractor. The ties were clearly inextricably intertwined.

 

 

To summarize, agencies under the Trump administration worked with external players to ensure the pre-election narrative was rigged against Trump.

Under the Biden administration, the agencies pivoted from election interference to dealing with "domestic violent extremist" threats. 

 

 

Clearly, the meetings were more frequent since both regimes were simpatico, both ideologically and politically.

 

The proof is a March 2021 email where an FBI officer thanked a Twitter executive for the chance to speak to “you and the team” and then delivers a packet of “products.

 

The executive circulated the “products,” which are really DHS newsletters about the need for greater collaboration between law enforcement and “private sector partners.”

Despite Musk’s takeover, the FBI continued to send Twitter notifications for action.

Perhaps that's because Yoel Roth was still with Twitter.

Last month, before the midterms, the FBI urged Twitter to ‘take action’ on accounts not because they broke federal laws but because they were in violation of Twitter’s Terms and Services.

 

 

Also last month, the FBI notified Twitter about accounts ‘spreading disinformation.

 

 

Twitter complied by suspending most of the requested accounts.

 

 

 

 

The FBI and the DHS once again targeted satire and myriad innocuous conservative accounts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is clear that the 2016 elections were relatively fair because the Democrats were deceived by their own propaganda that Hillary’s victory was inevitable. But after recovering from that blow, they weren’t going to allow fairness to interfere in the 2020 elections.

Hence, the FBI devised ‘foreign interference’ in the 2016 elections narrative to interfere with the 2020 elections. 

The FBI set up a social media-focused task force of around 80 agents who corresponded with Twitter to identify alleged ‘foreign influence and election tampering.’

 

 

A confederacy of social media firms, federal agencies, state governments, private contractors, think tanks, academia, etc. was cultivated.

This confederacy operated like an Orwellian super-government that functioned as judge, jury, and executioner to distort the social media discourse.

It is vital to not conflate these revelations with punitive action against the culprits.

These Twitter Files change nothing.

Federal agencies and various actors will continue to pressure Twitter to manipulate content. The rot in these agencies runs so deep that remedial action is unlikely.

The only action the former Twitter regime and rogue federal agents could face is they will be summoned by the GOP House for a public scolding. This will provide some gratification for conservatives.

The accused will continue to cite foreign interference or domestic terrorism to justify their actions. 

But will anything happen beyond that display?

Very unlikely which renders Twitter Files meaningless. 

What about the public?

Apart from conservatives, few will be aware of the existence of Twitter Files, if they are it will be via media spin.

How has the media covered it?

The WaPo called it an exercise in hypocrisy. Politico claims that the revelations were falling flat. The Atlantic called it a missed opportunity. CNN concluded that content moderation is messy.

The only certain outcome of these Twitter files is that Musk is a target of the establishment.

The media is already carrying stories of Musk’s ‘inhumane’ layoffs, Musk exploiting his employees, and Musk living at Twitter's headquarters.

The media is reporting that Yoel Roth was forced to leave home due to threats amid the 'Twitter Files' release. There are stories of Musk escalating attacks on Roth. 

So Musk, who revealed the facts, is depicted as a monster while the likes of Roth, who censored public opinion to rig the 2020 elections, is being portrayed as the victim.

The Twitter suspension of a handful of liberal journalists has also become a focus.

This build-up is meant to give agencies a valid reason to target Musk, it isn’t a question of if, but when Musk will face retaliation.

Back to the 2020 elections.

If that contest was fair, Trump would be president

Inflation would be under control. Gas prices would be under control. The economy would be booming. The border would have been protected. There would be prosperity.

Beyond the U.S. there would be no conflict in Ukraine which would have saved the U.S. more than $100 billion, as well as thousands of Russian and Ukainian lives. Afghanistan would not be under Taliban control. China would not be making aggressive overtures towards Taiwan.

But instead, there is chaos, confusion, hardship, and darkness all over.

The dire consequences of rigged elections are felt not just in the U.S., but around the world.

Those who rigged the 2020 contest have caused irreparable damage, for which they are unlikely to face any consequences.

Image: Twitter screen shot.

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