{"id":1778932,"date":"2022-12-18T06:03:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-18T11:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1778932"},"modified":"2022-12-18T06:48:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T11:48:40","slug":"twitter-files-6-shows-deep-state-went-deeper-than-just-fbi-twitter-collusion-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/twitter-files-6-shows-deep-state-went-deeper-than-just-fbi-twitter-collusion-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter Files 6 Shows Deep State Went Deeper Than Just FBI-Twitter Collusion"},"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\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" 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<!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><em>News Analysis<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The latest episode of Twitter\u2019s internal files on content crackdowns paints a picture of a censorship machine that not only worked hand-in-glove with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-fbi\">FBI<\/a> but also received content-related flags and action requests from a tangled web of state agencies, private contractors, and government-affiliated NGOs, shedding new light on the depths of the \u201cdeep state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The files were released Friday by journalist Matt Taibbi with Elon Musk\u2019s endorsement, and serve to bolster claims that Big Tech colluded with a network of entities\u2014including government agencies\u2014to suppress Americans\u2019 free speech.<\/p>\n<p>Musk, who after taking over Twitter in late October promised to release internal files on \u201cfree speech suppression,\u201d has since granted access to the trove of documents to several individuals\u2014Taibbi, journalist <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bariweiss?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">Bari Weiss<\/a>, and author\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShellenbergerMD\">Michael Shellenberger<\/a>\u2014who have been releasing them in tranches dubbed the \u201cTwitter Files.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Episode six of the Twitter Files, elaborated on in detail by Taibbi, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1603859750168301569\">was shared<\/a> on Dec. 16 by Musk.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">KABOOM \ud83d\udca5\ud83d\udca5\ud83d\udca5\ud83d\udca5\ud83d\udca5 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TS3jFZ51VR\">https:\/\/t.co\/TS3jFZ51VR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1603859750168301569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 16, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Included in the thread are screenshots of FBI requests for Twitter to censor posts on the platform, as well as ones showing Twitter complying in a dynamic Taibbi described as a \u201cmaster-canine\u201d relationship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe master-canine quality of the FBI\u2019s relationship to Twitter comes through in this November 2022 email, in which \u2018FBI San Francisco is notifying you\u2019 it wants action on four accounts,\u201d Taibbi wrote, sharing a screenshot of an email from the FBI asking for \u201cany action or inaction deemed appropriate within Twitter policy\u201d with respect to accounts that \u201cmay potentially constitute violations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Three of the four flagged accounts <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IngJoseAlvarez\/status\/1603865210883915777\">were suspended,<\/a>\u00a0with the one that was spared sometimes posting anti-Trump and blue-leaning content.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter did not return a request for comment while an FBI spokesperson said the agency regularly notifies private sector entities about \u201cforeign malign influence\u201d but any actions are taken independently by the companies.<\/p>\n<p>Executives at Twitter for years insisted that no censorship or shadow banning of conservatives took place on the social media platform, a claim that the Twitter Files disclosures has shattered.<\/p>\n<p>Previous Twitter Files disclosures shed light on Twitter\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/musk-confirms-political-candidates-were-shadow-banned-by-twitters-censors_4913736.html\">blacklisting of some<\/a> conservative accounts, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/mkt_app\/twitter-files-reveals-exact-moment-donald-trump-was-banned-last-year_4918969.html\">internal deliberations<\/a> on banning former President Donald Trump\u2019s account, and the FBI\u2019s alleged role in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/fbi-warned-twitter-of-hunter-biden-hack-and-leak-operation-before-2020-election_4904572.html\">suppression of<\/a> a New York Post story about Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018As If It Were a Subsidiary\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Like the prior disclosures, Twitter Files 6 offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Big Tech censorship.<\/p>\n<p>The latest files show that agencies like the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regularly sent Twitter social media content through various channels <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857557080231936\">that were<\/a> \u201cpre-flagged for moderation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some of the reports sent to Twitter by government agencies were aggregated from public hotlines, like from the National Election Command Post that assessed election-related threats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat stands out is the sheer quantity of reports from the government,\u201d wrote Taibbi, who <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857566894809103\">also questioned<\/a> whether the government did the flagging using its own resources or farmed it out to third parties.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the FBI-Twitter communications were described as \u201cconstant and pervasive,\u201d with the law enforcement agency playing a dominant role and Twitter acting \u201cas if it were a subsidiary.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Hyper-Intrusive\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThe #TwitterFiles are revealing more every day about how the government collects, analyzes, and flags your social media content. Twitter\u2019s contact with the FBI was constant and pervasive, as if it were a subsidiary,\u201d Taibbi said at the top of\u00a0the thread that kicked off episode six of the disclosures.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth exchanged over 150 emails between January 2020 and November 2022, the files showed.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the FBI\u2019s communications with Roth were fairly mundane, like reminders to attend regular FBI-Twitter calls.<\/p>\n<p>But others asked Twitter for information on users related to active investigations or requested action on election-related content.<\/p>\n<p>Requests to act on \u201celection misinformation,\u201d in particular, were noted in the disclosures to have been \u201csurprisingly high\u201d in number, even extending to low-follower accounts and joke tweets.<\/p>\n<p>While the FBI\u2019s \u201chyper-intrusive\u201d actions weren\u2019t confined to just right-leaning accounts, as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857590299103232\">Taibbi noted,<\/a> the files showed Twitter enforcers acting with more leniency with respect to blue-leaning ones.<\/p>\n<p>A screenshot of a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857581503569929\">message from<\/a> one of the accounts that the FBI had flagged for action, @fromMA, featured a post that said: \u201cI want to remind republicans to vote tomorrow, Wednesday November 9.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857590299103232\">flagged for action<\/a> was from\u00a0@clairefosterPHD, who said, \u201cI\u2019m a ballot counter in my state. If you\u2019re not wearing a mask, I am not counting your vote,\u201d following that up with, \u201cFor every negative comment on this post I\u2019m adding another vote for the democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But of the half dozen accounts flagged for action in several messages, neither of the blue-leaning ones\u2014@fromMA nor @clairefosterPHD\u2014were suspended.<\/p>\n<p>Other messages reinforced the view of a cozy relationship between Twitter and the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857603867598859\">message dated<\/a> Nov. 6, the FBI\u2019s National Election Command Post asked Elvis Chan, a top official at the FBI\u2019s office in San Francisco, for \u201ccoordination\u201d with Twitter to determine which of 25 flagged accounts \u201cmay warrant additional action due to the accounts being utilized to spread misinformation about the upcoming election.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chan later <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857609118859264\">forwarded the message<\/a> to his \u201cTwitter folks,\u201d asking for action on the accounts, \u201cwhich we believe are violating your terms of service by disseminating false information about the time, place, or manner of the upcoming elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857615456534529\">replied with<\/a> a list of actions it took in response, including permanent and temporary suspensions, and tweets \u201cbounced for civic misinformation policy violations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In what is perhaps one of the more intriguing takeaways from Twitter Files 6 is just how broad the network of entities was that engaged with Twitter on content crackdowns.<\/p>\n<p>There were \u201cmultiple points of entry\u201d for government-flagged reports into Twitter, including Teleporter, a platform where FBI reports <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857692967182336\">could be<\/a> accessed by Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>The DHS also provided \u201cevidence\u201d to Twitter staff on content flagged for censorship, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857700257173504\">message showing<\/a> a Twitter employee recommending \u201cbouncing\u201d related content.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cState governments also flagged content,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857703335600128\">Taibbi wrote<\/a>, noting that Twitter also received reports via the Partner Support Portal, an entity established by a partner organization to the DHS called the Center for Internet Security (CIS).<\/p>\n<p>In one case, Twitter executives received an alert from California officials via the Partner Support Portal regarding a tweet by former President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857712638529536\">that claimed<\/a> \u201cCalifornia hired a pure Sleepy Joe Democrat firm to count and \u2018harvest\u2019 votes,\u201d and that \u201cCalifornia is in big trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s tweet wasn\u2019t acted upon and a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603857712638529536\">message from<\/a> California officials demanded to know \u201cwhy no action was taken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The files also show an instance where a video was flagged by the Election Integrity Project (EIP) at Stanford,\u00a0\u201capparently on the strength of information\u201d from the CIS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf that\u2019s confusing, it\u2019s because the CIS is a DHS contractor, describes itself as \u2018partners\u2019 with the Cyber and [Infrastructure] Security Agency (CISA) at the DHS,\u201d Taibbi wrote, adding that the EIP is\u00a0\u201cone of a series of government-affiliated think tanks that mass-review content, a list that also includes the Atlantic Council\u2019s Digital Forensics Research Laboratory, and the University of Washington\u2019s Center for Informed Policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Taibbi wrapped up his thread by characterizing the so-called \u201cdeep state\u201d as a far more extensive web of ties than many people think, and one that goes beyond just government bureaucrats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe takeaway: what most people think of as the \u2018deep state\u2019 is really a tangled collaboration of state agencies, private contractors, and (sometimes state-funded) NGOs. The lines become so blurred as to be meaningless,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of chasing child sex predators or terrorists, the FBI has agents\u2014lots of them\u2014analyzing and mass-flagging social media posts. Not as part of any criminal investigation, but as a permanent, end-in-itself surveillance operation. People should not be okay with this,\u201d Taibbi <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1603878271384313856\">said in a post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Republicans React to Twitter Files 6<\/h2>\n<p>Republican lawmakers have vowed to take action following the release of the latest disclosures on content crackdowns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The] FBI has a lot to answer for after the latest drop of Twitter Files 6,\u201d Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mattgaetz\/status\/1603884157490315265\">said in a tweet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The GOP House Judiciary Committee account on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JudiciaryGOP\/status\/1603878272676372480\">asked in a post<\/a>: \u201cDoes anyone still trust the FBI?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Texas state Rep. Troy Nehls, a Republican and former sheriff, took to Twitter to say that the FBI would face a probe when the GOP assumes control of the House in several weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepublicans will investigate the FBI in January. I promise you that,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepTroyNehls\/status\/1603864026789945344\">he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) suggested that other Big Tech companies were similarly used by the FBI to take action on users\u2019 content.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf [the] FBI used Twitter to censor, you bet they also used Google and Facebook,\u201d Hawley <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HawleyMO\/status\/1603871614827106304\">said in a tweet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a sentiment echoed by Daniel Miller, President of the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM), an organization that promotes Texas independence that <a href=\"https:\/\/tnm.me\/news\/tnm-news\/facebook-reverses-link-ban-after-filing-of-texits-class-action-lawsuit\/\">sued Facebook<\/a> parent Meta for banning links to TNM content from being shared on the platform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the #TwitterFiles6 is this explosive, imagine what the Facebook Files will look like,\u201d Miller wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheTexianDM\/status\/1603882835353313280\">post on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Facebook censored TNM at the direction of the FBI, we are going to find out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times has reached out to Google and Facebook parent Meta with a request for comment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-tom-ozimek\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WEB_TomOzimek-_1.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Ozimek\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p>Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News AnalysisThe latest episode of Twitter\u2019s internal files on content crackdowns paints a picture of a censorship machine that not only worked hand-in-glove with the FBI but also received content-related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1696806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[9941,5458,6926,9942,9940,5665,3819,4253],"class_list":["post-1778932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-deep","tag-bongino","tag-collusion","tag-deeper","tag-fbi-twitter","tag-files","tag-report","tag-twitter"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778932","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1778932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1696806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1778932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1778932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1778932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}