Recent “Twitter files” show that FBI executives have been harassed for not reporting enough “state propaganda.”
The FBI repeatedly grilled Twitter executives over the summer of 2020 over censorship on the social media platform – and insisted the company provide more information on removing “government propaganda” from the site, according to the latest version of Twitter Files.
The agency’s Foreign Influence Task Force – which deals with cyber threats – has questioned Twitter about its coverage of official state media actors’ use of the site, according to emails shared by independent journalist Matt Taibbi in what he dug up Sunday night as the “Twitter Files Supplemental.”
San Francisco FBI agent Elvis Chan pressured former Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth in July 2020 for more information on how they were preventing bad actors from using the platform, as evidenced by screenshots by E mail correspondence published by Taibbi.
Chan wasn’t happy with Twitter’s stating that it “hasn’t observed much recent activity by official propaganda actors on your platform,” the emails show.
Roth, in return for the agency’s persistence, said he was “perplexed” by the lengthy investigation.
“I’m honestly stumped by the requests here, which looks more like something we would get from a congressional committee than the Governing Board,” he said in an email to his team.
Roth added that he’s “not particularly comfortable with the FBI (and by extension, the [Intelligence Community]) demand written answers.”
In another email, Roth said he thought the FBI’s questioning was flawed because Twitter had clearly acknowledged that “official state propaganda on Twitter is definitely a thing.”
Taibbi posted several tweets about the scandal.
The agency’s Foreign Influence Task Force questioned Twitter about its coverage of official state media officials’ use of the site.
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Taibbi shares the breakdown of the Twitter Files Supplemental.
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The FBI said its inquiries to the social media platform were standard procedure for the agency.
“The FBI regularly works with private sector entities to provide specific information regarding identified subversive, undeclared, covert or criminal activities by foreign malicious influencers,” the agency told Taibbi.
On Friday, Taibbi said the relationship between the FBI and Twitter has a “master dog quality” and that the two parties are in “constant and ever-present” contact. The FBI treated the social media giant like a “subsidiary,” he added, and has been steadily flagging numerous Twitter accounts for allegedly damaging “misinformation” since January 2020.
https://nypost.com/2022/12/18/latest-twitter-files-show-fbi-questioned-executives-over-users-spouting-state-propaganda/ Recent “Twitter files” show that FBI executives have been harassed for not reporting enough “state propaganda.”
