OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Republican Congressmen are furious after the most recent “Twitter Files” and are vowing to take action after it was shown that the FBI was involved in flagging content and sending it to Twitter executives to review.
“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 on Friday. “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 FBI responded to Fox News by defending itself and saying that it has organized with private businesses in the past.
“The FBI regularly engages with private sector entities to provide information specific to identified foreign malign influence actors’ subversive, undeclared, covert, or criminal activities. Private sector entities independently make decisions about what, if any, action they take on their platforms and for their customers after the FBI has notified them,” it said.
Fox News reported.
Taibbi highlighted the FBI’s social media task force established after the 2016 presidential election that assigned as many as “80 agents” to monitor foreign interference prominently featured in the Twitter Files.
“Do agencies like FBI and DHS do in-house flagging work themselves, or farm it out? ‘You have to prove to me that inside the f—ing government you can do any kind of massive data or AI search,’ says one former intelligence officer,” Taibbi wrote.
He then shared an email sent to “Twitter contacts” from an FBI official listing multiple Twitter accounts that “may potentially constitute violations of Twitter’s Terms of Service.”
“Twitter personnel in that case went on to look for reasons to suspend all four accounts, including @fromma , whose tweets are almost all jokes (see sample below), including his ‘civic misinformation’ of Nov. 8,” Taibbi tweeted.
Taibbi highlighted two additional accounts, one he described as being “blue-leaning” whose tweets were clearly joking, writing “Of the six accounts mentioned in the previous two emails, all but two… were suspended.”
“HELLO TWITTER CONTACTS”: The master-canine quality of the FBI’s relationship to Twitter comes through in this November 2022 email, in which “FBI San Francisco is notifying you” it wants action on four accounts: pic.twitter.com/LjgB6fxENo
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 16, 2022
Republican representatives were not impressed with the FBI’s explanation and are vowing to take action.
“[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.
.@FBI has a lot to answer for after the latest drop of #TwitterFiles6 @Jim_Jordan @RepMikeJohnson @RepAndyBiggsAZ @RepDanBishop and I will be asking the questions.
Clear your calendar.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 16, 2022
“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 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 https://t.co/IGGZBafGVO
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 17, 2022
Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer spoke to Fox News host Sean Hannity about it.
“Anyone that cares about free speech should be outraged,” he said. “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,” Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said.
And if FBI used Twitter to censor, you bet they also used Google and Facebook
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 16, 2022
“Republicans will investigate the FBI in January. I promise you that,” Rep. Troy Nehls said.
Republicans will investigate the FBI in January.
I promise you that.
— Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) December 16, 2022
And it was not only Congressmembers who were furious.
“If you’re still defending the FBI as a sacred institution, you’re either not paying attention OR you support what they’re doing and you’re the enemy,” Jedediah Bila said.
If you’re still defending the FBI as a sacred institution, you’re either not paying attention OR you support what they’re doing and you’re the enemy.
— Jedediah Bila (@JedediahBila) December 17, 2022
“With the latest #TwitterFiles6 it now seems clear that @vijaya should be arrested. And @jack. And @FBI director Christopher Wray. Further investigations are needed into @Meta and @YouTube. This is a monumental scandal, a conspiracy to violate our constitutional rights @elonmusk,” Dinesh D’Souza said.
With the latest #TwitterFiles6 it now seems clear that @vijaya should be arrested. And @jack. And @FBI director Christopher Wray. Further investigations are needed into @Meta and @YouTube. This is a monumental scandal, a conspiracy to violate our constitutional rights @elonmusk
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) December 16, 2022
“EIGHTY FBI agents sitting around telling twitter to censor jokes while violent crime spiraled out of control across the country. We are paying $10 billion a year for this,” Miranda Devine said.
EIGHTY FBI agents sitting around telling twitter to censor jokes while violent crime spiraled out of control across the country. We are paying $10 billion a year for this. https://t.co/5OauyRaP1M
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) December 16, 2022
So just to get this straight.
As taxpayers we are paying for FBI agents to collaborate with Twitter to police jokes on the platform.
Y'all tired of the government yet?
— Jeff Charles, Destroyer of Democracy (@JeffOnTheRight) December 16, 2022
“So just to get this straight. As taxpayers we are paying for FBI agents to collaborate with Twitter to police jokes on the platform. Y’all tired of the government yet?” Jeff Charles said.
