Today journalist David Zweig released the latest series of revelations from the Twitter Files, a series of releases organized by Elon Musk.
Acknowledging that past Twitter Files releases focused on how Twitter received orders from the Democratic Party, Joe Biden’s administration, the FBI, and occasionally from Republicans, Zweig said he would establish how this dynamic impacted the platform’s discussions stemming from COVID-19.
2. So far the Twitter Files have focused on evidence of Twitter’s secret blacklists; how the company functioned as a kind of subsidiary of the FBI; and how execs rewrote the platform’s rules to accommodate their own political desires.
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
Zweig revealed that Twitter became subservient to the government under Trump, and continues to take its marching orders from Biden’s White House.
However, it does not appear Trump was directly involved in these conversations. It began when the Trump administration was concerned about social media helping to exacerbate panic buying at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was nearly impossible to locate toilet paper.
6. At the onset of the pandemic, according to meeting notes, the Trump admin was especially concerned about panic buying. They came looking for “help from the tech companies to combat misinformation” about “runs on grocery stores.” But . . . there were runs on grocery stores. pic.twitter.com/duzk2I1Y7T
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
While Trump’s administration apparently focused on the availability of food and supplies, Biden’s administration continued and escalated the relationship.
8. When the Biden admin took over, one of their first meeting requests with Twitter executives was on Covid. The focus was on “anti-vaxxer accounts.” Especially Alex Berenson: pic.twitter.com/yBNeF2YbD3
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
Alex Berenson, the former New York Times journalist, moral crusader against Infowars, and vaccine skeptic who sued Twitter after being banned, was mentioned in the latest leaks.
10. Berenson sued (and then settled with) Twitter. In the legal process Twitter was compelled to release certain internal communications, which showed direct White House pressure on the company to take action on Berenson.
https://t.co/CHt0s7ZqfQ pic.twitter.com/dFgRmyRB3z
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
Later, Biden’s White House became enraged that Twitter was not doing enough to censor its users.
12. Culbertson wrote that the Biden team was “very angry” that Twitter had not been more aggressive in deplatforming multiple accounts. They wanted Twitter to do more. pic.twitter.com/lZTQV3yKeZ
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
14. But Twitter did suppress views—many from doctors and scientific experts—that conflicted with the official positions of the White House. As a result, legitimate findings and questions that would have expanded the public debate went missing.
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
Still central to the story of Twitter’s censorship is Obama-era Department of Justice lawyer Jim Baker, who was fired from his Twitter job by Musk after revelations about his role at the company began.
One conversation between Baker and Yoel Roth, a top Twitter rule maker who was also fired by Musk, showed Baker questioning Roth about why Trump was not banned for expressing optimism about COVID-19.
35. Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of Trust & Safety, had to explain that optimism wasn’t misinformation. pic.twitter.com/1pj8uvzWR1
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
Zweig essentially claims that Twitter made a brazenly political decision to consider “The Science” to be defined by Democrats and their media allies.
37. Twitter made a decision, via the political leanings of senior staff, and govt pressure, that the public health authorities’ approach to the pandemic – prioritizing mitigation over other concerns – was “The Science” . . .
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
39. What might this pandemic and its aftermath have looked like if there had been a more open debate on Twitter and other social media platforms—not to mention the mainstream press—about the origins of Covid, about lockdowns, about the true risks of Covid in kids, and much more?
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
