Journalist Matt Taibbi has revealed a another set of internal Twitter papers, which apparently indicate that Rep. Adam Schiff’s aides frequently called the platform and urged them to delete specific postings, including humorous posts.
The thread is the most recent version of the “Twitter Files,” which were disclosed by the new owner of the company, Elon Musk, and published by independent journalists such as Taibbi.
In his investigation released on Friday, Taibbi reported that Schiff’s office was in constant contact with Twitter and repeatedly sought the removal of particular messages.
In one case, Schiff employees urged Twitter to remove a meme making fun of Joe Biden, who was a presidential candidate at the time.
Sloppy Joe is trending. I wonder if it's because of this. You can tell it's a deep fake because Jill Biden isn't covering for him. pic.twitter.com/LMzx7fpMaP
— Nate's Liver – Commentary (@SilERabbit) April 26, 2020
According to Taibbi, the DNC reportedly contacted Twitter, arguing that the tweet violated the platform’s “manipulated media policy.”
However, Twitter’s previous head of Trust and Safety, Yoel Roth, said that the tweet had a clear “humorous aim” and refused to remove it since “any reasonable observer” might determine that the GIF had been altered.
Taibbi claimed that the most troubling aspect of the message was that it had been retweeted by then-President Donald Trump.
However, while Schiff aide Jeff Lowenstein acknowledged that the image may not violate platform guidelines, he argued that allowing the post to remain would create a “slippery slope” situation.
4.Schiff staffer Jeff Lowenstein didn’t give up, claiming there was a “slippery slope concern here.” pic.twitter.com/qM1cJiZLFh
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
According to Taibbi, Schiff’s office often sought the removal of posts that were essentially “political criticism.”
Twitter denied requests to prohibit content regarding Schiff’s staff members on the House Intelligence Committee.
Taibbi noted that Schiff’s office routinely pushed Twitter to remove tweets on the grounds that they were “QAnon-related activity,” despite the fact that the tweets in issue were unconnected.
5.Twitter also refused requests for bans of content about Schiff and his staff, e.g. “complete suppress[ion of] any and all search results about Mr. Misko and other Committee staffers.” Twitter said this would not be “conceivable.” pic.twitter.com/2HQrmp4fnY
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
According to Taibbi, Twitter rules at the time stipulated that QAnon-related content would be “deamplified” instead of prohibited.
However, Schiff’s office was concerned that “deamplifying” the postings would make it difficult for law enforcement to track the offending Tweeters.
9.“WE APPRECIATE GREATLY”
“We are curious whether any deamplification measures implemented by Twitter’s enforcement team – which we appreciate greatly – could… impede the ability of law enforcement to search Twitter for potential threats about Misko and other HPSCI staff.” pic.twitter.com/h7TRauK6j5— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
Taibbi has also just revealed a second set of “Twitter Files” that suggest Democrats and mainstream media outlets sought to undermine a report highlighting faults in the Trump-Russia inquiry.
Democrats claimed at the time that Russian “bots” and “trolls” were promoting the story on social media, despite Twitter officials finding no proof of Russian activity.
“Twitter warned politicians and media [they] not only lacked evidence but had evidence the accounts weren’t Russian — and were roundly ignored,” Taibbi reported.
Nonetheless, Democrats like as Schiff blasted openly the alleged “Russian influence operations.”
A consistent theme of the #TwitterFiles has been concrete evidence that Russiagate headlines were manufactured by politicians and media — the thread below blows up the absurd #ReleaseTheMemo panic stoked by @SenFeinstein, @SenBlumenthal, and @AdamSchiff, among others. https://t.co/uO92WXyBlW
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 12, 2023
And instead of setting the story straight, Taibbi found that platform officials chose to stay silent on the matter. “As a result, reporters from the AP to Politico to NBC to Rolling Stone continued to hammer the ‘Russian bots’ theme, despite a total lack of evidence,” Taibbi wrote.