OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A substantial majority of Americans want the FBI investigated for its alleged role in having content throttled and censored on Twitter following allegations of interference on the platform this month. Several “Twitter Files” data dumps supplied to journalists by CEO Elon Musk indicated that the FBI was heavily involved with the previous management team at the company in censoring content and having users banned.
According to a newly released survey by Rasmussen Reports, 63 percent of respondents said they want the new Congress to launch probes of FBI-induced censorship on Twitter and social media giant Facebook, while the same amount of respondents said they believe that it took place.
The Washington Examiner reported:
The finding in the new survey, sponsored by Miranda Devine, author of the book Laptop from Hell which deals with first son Hunter Biden’s scandal-laden computer, followed a week of revelations that the government convinced Twitter to censor posts about Biden and his critics.
Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, who is set to take over as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, voiced “serious concerns about how and why tech companies suppress, silence, or reduce the reach of certain political speech and speakers.”
“Majorities of every political category — 52% of Democrats, 75% of Republicans, and 63% of unaffiliated voters — believe Congress should investigate whether the FBI was involved in censoring information on social media sites,” the pollster noted.
The poll also found that the country is split nearly in half regarding the FBI, with 50 percent saying they view the law enforcement agency favorably compared to 46 percent who do not. Democrats support the FBI more, by far, with 74 percent saying they see the bureau in a favorable light.
“Overall, however, the agency suffers from mounting concerns,” the Washington Examiner noted. “Asked, for example, if there is a group of ‘politicized thugs’ at the top who are using the FBI to help Biden, 53% agreed.”
Earlier this month, a data dump by Twitter revealed that under previous management, the platform’s executives met often — at times, on a weekly basis — with federal agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, to flag stories as ‘misinformation’ and to limit the reach of other accounts and users during the 2020 election cycle.
“The #TwitterFiles are revealing more every day about how the government collects, analyzes, and flags your social media content. Twitter’s contact with the FBI was constant and pervasive, as if it were a subsidiary,” journalist Matt Taibbi said wrote in a thread. “Between January 2020 and November 2022, there were over 150 emails between the FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth… a surprisingly high number are requests by the FBI for Twitter to take action on election misinformation, even involving joke tweets from low-follower accounts.”
“The information released showed that Twitter had special Slack channels set up where they monitored Trump’s tweets and made rapid decisions about whether to censor the president or add warning labels to his tweets,” the Daily Wire added.
Several GOP lawmakers are furious over the revelations and have vowed to get answers when they take over the House next month.
“[The] FBI has a lot to answer for after the latest drop of Twitter Files 6,” Rep. Mat Gaetz said on Twitter.
“@Jim_Jordan @RepMikeJohnson @RepAndyBiggsAZ @RepDanBishop and I will be asking the questions. Clear your calendar,” he said.
“The FBI is designing what u see so they can control what you think & how u behave Even before #TwitterFiles6 we knew they: Altered evidence (Clinesmith) Lied under oath (McCabe) Targeted Trump (Strzok/Paige) Suppressed evidence (Thibault) The Bureau needs a serious reshaping,” he added.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) spoke to Fox News host Sean Hannity about it.
“Anyone that cares about free speech should be outraged,” Comer told the host. “Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, this has to stop.”
“And if FBI used Twitter to censor, you bet they also used Google and Facebook,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) noted as well.
