New evidence disclosed in a “Twitter Files” leak explicates the internal considerations behind the suspension of President Donald Trump in 2021.
Internal platform conversations collected and released by author Michael Shellenberger on Saturday indicate that Twitter management had a particular strategy in place to erase Trump’s presence following the January 6, 2021 Capitol invasion.
Yoel Roth, the leader of Twitter’s “trust and safety” team, boasted about the strategy in internal communications.
Around 11:30 am PT, Roth sends a direct message to his coworkers with news he is eager to share.
“GUESS WHAT,” he writes. “Jack just approved repeat offender for civic integrity.”
Around 11:30 am PT, Roth DMs his colleagues with news that he is excited to share.
“GUESS WHAT,” he writes. “Jack just approved repeat offender for civic integrity.”
The new approach would create a system where five violations ("strikes") would result in permanent suspension. pic.twitter.com/F1KYqd1Xea
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 11, 2022
On January 8, 2021, Twitter censors swiftly applied the new limitation to Trump, who was permanently barred from the platform.
The coworker wants to know if this judgment implies Trump can be banned at last. The individual asks, “does the incitement to violence aspect change that calculus?”
The colleague wants to know if the decision means Trump can finally be banned. The person asks, "does the incitement to violence aspect change that calculus?”
Roth says it doesn't. "Trump continues to just have his one strike" (remaining). pic.twitter.com/Qyi1sJNa0w
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 11, 2022
Trump’s account had already been temporarily suspended for 12 hours in response to the incident.
When announcing Trump’s permanent ban, Twitter cited a “risk of further incitement of violence,” according to the company.
Roth achieved a set threshold for Trump’s permanent suspension around the same time, which was a policy decision taken by then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
Trump would be permanently suspended under the new criterion for any infraction of Twitter’s speech rule.
A bewildered senior executive in advertising sales writes a direct message to Roth at noon.
Sales exec: “jack says: ‘we will permanently suspend [Trump] if our policies are violated after a 12 hour account lock’… what policies is jack talking about?”
Around noon, a confused senior executive in advertising sales sends a DM to Roth.
Sales exec: "jack says: 'we will permanently suspend [Trump] if our policies are violated after a 12 hour account lock'… what policies is jack talking about?"
Roth: "*ANY* policy violation" pic.twitter.com/ExSFNM7BAb
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 11, 2022
In the case of Trump’s suspension, Roth abandoned a long-standing Twitter policy that permitted content that violated site rules if it was of great public significance.
What occurs next is crucial to comprehending Twitter’s justification for banning Trump.
Sales executive: “are we dropping the public interest [policy] now…”
What happens next is essential to understanding how Twitter justified banning Trump.
Sales exec: "are we dropping the public interest [policy] now…"
Roth, six hours later: "In this specific case, we're changing our public interest approach for his account…" pic.twitter.com/XRUFil2npI
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 11, 2022
Some of the new speech limits imposed on Trump’s Twitter account extended to users who uploaded screenshots of blocked messages, a guideline that the platform’s workers struggled to execute.
What if a person opposes both Trump and Twitter’s censorship? The tweet still gets removed. But since the goal is not to contest the election outcome, no punishment is imposed.
What if a user dislikes Trump *and* objects to Twitter's censorship? The tweet still gets deleted. But since the *intention* is not to deny the election result, no punishing strike is applied.
"if there are instances where the intent is unclear please feel free to raise" pic.twitter.com/8bdG6b38ej
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 11, 2022
Roth departed Twitter in November in response to Elon Musk’s intentions to strengthen speech rights on the network.
Musk has since recognized Roth as Twitter’s “real” CEO, with considerable influence over choices of great impact on the network.