{"id":1494590,"date":"2022-05-27T12:15:04","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T16:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1494590"},"modified":"2022-05-27T12:28:53","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T16:28:53","slug":"12-groups-behind-protest-of-musks-twitter-takeover-have-ties-with-gates-foundation-soros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/12-groups-behind-protest-of-musks-twitter-takeover-have-ties-with-gates-foundation-soros\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Groups Behind Protest of Musk\u2019s Twitter Takeover Have Ties With Gates Foundation, Soros"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F12-groups-behind-protest-of-musks-twitter-takeover-have-ties-with-gates-foundation-soros%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1494590&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A dozen liberal groups that pressured <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-twitter\">Twitter<\/a> advertisers to boycott the platform in response to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-elon-musk\">Elon Musk<\/a>\u2019s plans to acquire it received money from entities backed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-bill-gates\">Bill Gates<\/a> and George Soros, an analysis of public filings shows.<\/p>\n<p>In early May, a group of 26 organizations penned a public letter claiming that the Tesla CEO\u2019s takeover of Twitter would \u201cbe a direct threat to public safety\u201d and turn the platform into \u201ca cesspool of misinformation.\u201d The letter called for Twitter\u2019s top advertisers to \u201chold [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-musk\">Musk<\/a>] to account\u201d by committing to \u201cnon-negotiable\u201d standards for doing business with the site, one of which is to not restore the accounts of political and public figures banned for \u201cegregious violations of Twitter Rules.\u201d The letter contained the logos of Accountable Tech, Media Matters for America, and UltraViolet Action.<\/p>\n<p>An analysis of the public filings and records shows that at least 11 of the letter\u2019s signatories or their affiliated groups have taken money from organizations funded by the Bill &#038; Melinda <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-gates-foundation\">Gates Foundation<\/a>. One of the three groups leading the letter has received over $1 million from billionaire financer George Soros\u2019s grant-making network Open Society Foundations, while the two others were founded in part by former staffers for Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton.<\/p>\n<p>Eight signatories also collected roughly $10.25 million in federal grants and loans between 2020 and 2021, public records show.<\/p>\n<p>The New Venture Fund, the recipient of more than $500 million in grants from the Gates Foundation since 2012, in 2020 gave $180,000 in total to two signees, Media Matters for America and Center for Media Justice. Another $11.2 million of the New Venture Fund\u2019s 2020 grant money went to North Fund, a shadowy progressive nonprofit based in Washington that funnels money to a number of other activist groups, including Accountable Tech, which published the letter.<\/p>\n<p>Accountable Tech\u2019s website shows that two members on its team\u2014its co-founder and digital director\u2014worked for Clinton\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2004, Media Matters for America describes itself as a \u201cprogressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.\u201d A key function of the organization is to provide tools for monitoring what it considers to be \u201cconservative misinformation,\u201d which it defines to be \u201cnews or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Center for Media Justice, which in 2019 was rebranded to MediaJustice, aims to promote \u201cracial, economic, and gender justice in a digital age,\u201d its website states.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4489880\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4489880\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/05\/25\/GettyImages-1395371343.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"3664\" height=\"2376\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Elon Musk attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating \u201cIn America: An Anthology of Fashion\u201d at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 2, 2022. (Dimitrios Kambouris\/Getty Images for The Met Museum\/Vogue)<\/figure>\n<p>Tides Foundation, a Gates Foundation grantee since at least 2013, has handed over $2.34 million to eight of the signatories or their affiliates over a three year-period since 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Among the recipients is Indivisible Project and its nonprofit charitable arm Indivisible Civics that work to \u201cdefeat the Trump agenda,\u201d of which the signatory Indivisible Northern Nevada is a local chapter.<\/p>\n<p>The other seven signatories that received money from Tides Foundation in the past three years are: women\u2019s advocacy group UltraViolet Action; environmentalist groups Union of Concerned Scientists and Friends of the Earth; pro-abortion association NARAL Pro-Choice America; Black Lives Matter South Bend, a local chapter of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation; GLAAD, which monitors media portrayal of LGBTQ groups; and Media Matters Action Network, a partner project of Media Matters for America.<\/p>\n<p>UltraViolet Action\u2019s board chair and board member Karen Finney was the Democratic National Committee\u2019s first African American spokeswoman and had served as the senior spokesperson for Hilary Clinton\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign, according to the group\u2019s website. Another board chair, Arisha Hatch, was an organizer for then-candidate Barack Obama\u2019s presidential campaign in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>Access Now, which focuses on internet accessibility around the world, in 2021 received funds totalling $1.35 million from the Open Society Foundations that Soros founded and chairs, along with grants from Wikimedia Foundation, Microsoft, governments in Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning in 2017, the Open Society Foundation has also awarded three grants with a combined value of 1.625 million to Free Press, a pro-net neutrality group that also signed on to the letter.<\/p>\n<p>The Microsoft founder last month admitted to having taken a $500 million short position on Tesla shares, according to a leaked text message string between Gates and Musk <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1517702987359133696\">said<\/a> that the latter said was authentic.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4493347\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4493347\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1393675015.jpg\" alt=\"Elon Musk To Buy Twitter\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1667\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tweets by Elon Musk are shown on a cell phone in Chicago, Ill, on April 25, 2022. (Scott Olson\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Musk had reacted to the boycott letter by calling for an investigation of the signatories\u2019 funders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho funds these organizations that want to control your access to information? Let\u2019s investigate \u2026\u201d he wrote on Twitter on May 3, adding: \u201cSunlight is the best disinfectant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He later made note of a report that some signatories received funding from Soros and European governments. \u201cInteresting. I wonder if those funding these organizations are fully aware of what the organizations are doing,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1521950798745194496\">wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter in recent years has drawn criticism for censoring and suspending conservative users. Among its list of banned public figures are former President Donald Trump, Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, COVID-19 vaccine critic Dr. Robert Malone, and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.<\/p>\n<p>Musk has called Twitter\u2019s ban of Trump\u2019s account in early 2021 \u201cflat-out stupid.\u201d He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/elon-musk-says-hell-lift-trumps-twitter-ban-after-deal-closes_4457924.html\">said<\/a> he would reverse the move if he becomes the platform\u2019s new owner.<\/p>\n<p>At a recent Miami tech conference, Musk also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/elon-musk-says-hes-voting-republican-in-upcoming-elections_4473539.html\">said<\/a> he would be voting Republican after having \u201cvoted overwhelmingly for Democrats.\u201d He described the $44 billion deal as \u201cnot some right-wing takeover,\u201d but instead a \u201cmoderate take over and an attempt to ensure that people of all political beliefs feel welcome on a digital town square and they can express their beliefs without fear of being banned or shadowbanned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Gates Foundation connections were first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/tech\/2022\/05\/23\/exclusive-bill-gates-poured-millions-into-dark-money-fund-attacking-elon-musk\/\">reported<\/a> by Breitbart. The Epoch Times has reached out to all the named organizations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-eva-fu\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/15f130a8712a9ef5_ttl7dayQgw_WEB_EvaFu.jpg\" alt=\"Eva Fu\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"names\">\n<p>China Reporter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bio\">Eva Fu is a New York-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S.-China relations, religious freedom, and human rights. Contact Eva at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:eva.fu@epochtimes.com\">eva.fu@epochtimes.com<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A dozen liberal groups that pressured Twitter advertisers to boycott the platform in response to Elon Musk\u2019s plans to acquire it received money from entities backed by Bill Gates and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":1494668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1494590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1494590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1494668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1494590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1494590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1494590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}