(TheRedWire.com) – During and after the 2016 presidential election, Democrats continually alleged Russian interference influenced the race’s outcome that saw Donald Trump win the White House over Hillary Clinton. Soon after, Twitter underwent a public relations crisis for supposedly allowing disinformation to run rampant on its platform. Eventually, the Big Tech company embraced the intelligence community and Democrats became intent on censoring opposition voices. Among those reportedly influencing company officials to shut down accounts was Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
On Tuesday, January 3, Substack writer Matt Taibbi reported on a batch of Twitter Files released by the platform’s new CEO Elon Musk. The information revealed that Schiff requested Twitter suspend accounts. In November 2020, the California congressman’s office reached out to the social media giant, hoping it would suspend accounts of alleged QAnon conspiracists who supposedly harassed his staff.
27.They also received an astonishing variety of requests from officials asking for individuals they didn’t like to be banned. Here, the office for Democrat and House Intel Committee chief Adam Schiff asks Twitter to ban journalist Paul Sperry: pic.twitter.com/SXI1ekqi13
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 3, 2023
Schiff asked Twitter to “remove any and all content” written about his Congressional aide Sean Misko and other staff members. In particular, he requested the organization to suspend two specific accounts for promoting QAnon conspiracy theories.
Additionally, Schiff demanded the social media giant stop misinformation from spreading on its platform and “label and reduce” its visibility. Taibbi noted Twitter refused to honor the lawmaker’s request and responded that it wasn’t something they do.
The Democratic politician wasn’t the only one making requests. The State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) tried to persuade company officials to moderate content as the pandemic began around February 2020. Yet, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, expressed reservation that the GEC was trying to insert itself into the middle of conversations between the company, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the FBI. Roth allegedly saw the GEC as overtly political, but he didn’t feel that way toward the other two federal agencies.
The Twitter File report also revealed that the social media platform began informing the House Intel Committee, which Schiff headed, of the outcomes of its actions as a result of the FBI’s directions. Some company efforts resulted in bans of specific accounts.
Copyright 2023, TheRedWire.com
