The “Twitter Files” Part Deux dropped on Thursday, causing the Internet to explode, revealing that the social media platform had kept a “secret blacklist” of topics and accounts to keep them from trending as many suspected while calling it “visibility filtering.”
(Video Credit: Fox News)
Journalist Bari Weiss released a new tranche of data and facts on Twitter Thursday evening. Conservatives immediately seized upon the release with one bluntly calling it “Soviet-style bullsh*t” and another claiming that he was handled with more censorship than Hamas, according to the Daily Mail.
Twitter implemented the Global Escalation Team, known as SRT-GET, that dealt with 200 cases a day, reportedly making censorship a full-time endeavor. A higher-level team, known as SIP-PES, “Site Integrity Policy, Policy Escalation Support,” dealt with more complicated and higher-profile cases.
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino was allegedly placed on a “search blacklist.” Fellow conservative Charlie Kirk was marked “do not amplify.”
Bongino called it “Soviet-style bullsh*t.”
“They’re treating my Twitter account with more scrutiny and censorship than the prime minister of Iran, than Hamas, than people who do actual terroristic type damage,” Kirk asserted. “Now we have evidence to show that’s exactly why my Twitter account the last couple of years has been down 95 percent in engagement.”
4. Or consider the popular right-wing talk show host, Dan Bongino (@dbongino), who at one point was slapped with a “Search Blacklist.” pic.twitter.com/AdOK8xLu9v
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
'SOVIET-STYLE BULLS–T': On "Hannity," @dbongino blasts mainstream media for ignoring the shadowbanning of conservatives following the second batch of Twitter Files. pic.twitter.com/Rp7plRgIlR
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 9, 2022
5. Twitter set the account of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) to “Do Not Amplify.” pic.twitter.com/dOyQIVdsW2
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
Here's my interview tonight with Tucker Carlson about being "Blacklisted" and placed on the "Do Not Amplify" list by Twitter. Thank you, Bari Weiss and Elon Musk for exposing the true extent of Twitter's censorship regime.
Let ALL the truth come out. pic.twitter.com/6jN1OzcLbN
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 9, 2022
Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was also put on a “search blacklist” over questioning the validity of COVID lockdowns and mask mandates and how they harmed children.
3. Take, for example, Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) who argued that Covid lockdowns would harm children. Twitter secretly placed him on a “Trends Blacklist,” which prevented his tweets from trending. pic.twitter.com/qTW22Zh691
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
Weiss reported that the censorship by Twitter was branded “visibility filtering” to suppress accounts they objected to. Twitter used teams to reduce the traction gained by individuals or their tweets.
“Think about visibility filtering as being a way for us to suppress what people see to different levels. It’s a very powerful tool,” one senior Twitter employee told Weiss.
1. A new #TwitterFiles investigation reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics—all in secret, without informing users.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
The “Site Integrity Policy, Policy Escalation Support” team oversaw the whole suppression effort. Top management and legal advisors made the decisions on sensitive cases of censorship. Jack Dorsey and his successor CEO, Parag Agrawal, were both on the team.
The head of Trust and Safety, Yoel Roth, wrote in internal messages that he was seeking more creative ways of censoring and muffling specific accounts and content.
“The hypothesis underlying much of what we’ve implemented is that if exposure to, e.g., misinformation directly causes harm, we should use remediations that reduce exposure, and limiting the spread/virality of content is a good way to do that,” Yoel Roth wrote.
“We got Jack on board with implementing this for civic integrity in the near term, but we’re going to need to make a more robust case to get this into our repertoire of policy remediations – especially for other policy domains,” he added.
Musk defended Dorsey, “Controversial decisions were often made without getting Jack’s approval and he was unaware of systemic bias. The inmates were running the asylum. Jack has a pure heart IMO.”
Musk was thrilled with the release by Weiss.
The Twitter Files, Part Deux!! 🍿🍿 https://t.co/bH9UiTSEK2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
“As @bariweiss clearly describes, the rules were enforced against the right, but not against the left,” Musk commented. He added that the company was “working on a software update that will show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal.”
“Truth brings reconciliation,” Musk wrote.
Twitter is working on a software update that will show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Truth brings reconciliation
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
According to the Daily Mail, “Twitter would block searches of individual users, make a specific tweet less easy to find, block posts from the ‘trending’ page, and remove them from hashtag searches.”
Libs of TikTok, which has caused a political earthquake on Twitter exposing leftists and their grooming tendencies, had its account tabbed internally, “Do Not Take Action on User Without Consulting With SIP-PES.”
.@libsoftiktok Joins Tucker Carlson To React To The Twitter Files Part Two Exposing The Level Of Suppression Used Against Her Account
"The Craziest part of this whole thing is that they admitted that I'm not even violating the policies, & they still suspended me seven times." pic.twitter.com/Ki0zRX0VOL
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) December 9, 2022
The account was suspended seven times by October 2022. Author Chaya Raichik had her account blocked for at least a week each time in an attempt to intimidate and silence her.
16. One of the accounts that rose to this level of scrutiny was @libsoftiktok—an account that was on the “Trends Blacklist” and was designated as “Do Not Take Action on User Without Consulting With SIP-PES.” pic.twitter.com/Vjo6YxYbxT
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
19. But in an internal SIP-PES memo from October 2022, after her seventh suspension, the committee acknowledged that “LTT has not directly engaged in behavior violative of the Hateful Conduct policy.” See here: pic.twitter.com/d9FGhrnQFE
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
Twitter claimed the account was suspended for violating the company’s “hateful conduct” policy but according to Weiss, internally they admitted there was no violation. Weiss obtained an October 2022 memo from SIP-PES that stated the account “has not directly engaged in behavior violative of the Hateful Conduct policy.”
The justification for the suspensions of Libs of TikTok included the assertion that her posts encouraged online harassment of “hospitals and medical providers” by insinuating “that gender-affirming healthcare is equivalent to child abuse or grooming.”
“They suspended me multiple times knowing I never violated any policies. This is what happens when you talk about things that they don’t want you to talk about. So glad those days on Twitter are over. Thank you @elonmusk,” Raichik tweeted.
“You’re welcome. Twitter won’t be perfect in the future, but it will be *much* better,” Musk responded.
You’re welcome. Twitter won’t be perfect in the future, but it will be *much* better.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Going to sleep tonight feeling entirely vindicated. It was infuriating getting suspension after suspension knowing I never violated any Twitter rules. This is the greatest gift. https://t.co/5mJPZ7fR7n
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 9, 2022
Both Dorsey and Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of Legal, Policy, and Trust have denied in the past that there was ever any shadow banning at Twitter.
6. Twitter denied that it does such things. In 2018, Twitter’s Vijaya Gadde (then Head of Legal Policy and Trust) and Kayvon Beykpour (Head of Product) said: “We do not shadow ban.” They added: “And we certainly don’t shadow ban based on political viewpoints or ideology.”
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
The dropping of the “Twitter Files” Part Deux comes after James Baker, Twitter’s general counsel and a former FBI general counsel, was fired when it was discovered that he vetted the first installment of the files.
Republished with permission from American Wire News Service
Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Rogan rips Fani Willis, multiple Trump indictments: ‘Seems like what happens in banana republics’ - March 18, 2024
- Elon Musk reveals two ‘very mentally ill’ individuals tried on two occasions to kill him - March 18, 2024
- Dylan Mulvaney’s new ultra-cringe misogynistic pop video pushes ‘candy-coated obscenity’ - March 18, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!