Journalist Matt Taibbi released the latest “Twitter Files” dump which shows a humorless Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) filing frequent requests to censor posts he found offensive, including one that was a Biden parody and that “any reasonable observer” could tell was fake.
According to Taibbi, Schiff arrogantly refused to take no for an answer at times when he was rebuffed by Twitter.
“Staff of House Democrat @AdamSchiff wrote to Twitter quite often, asking that tweets be taken down. This important use of taxpayer resources involved an ask about a ‘Peter Douche’ parody photo of Joe Biden. The DNC made the same request,” Taibbi revealed on Friday.
The tweet shows President Biden with his tongue sticking out. It is obviously photoshopped and meant as a joke. The tweet was sent by Nate’s Liver and stated, “Sloppy Joe is trending. I wonder if it’s because of this. You can tell it’s a deep fake because Jill Biden isn’t covering for him.”
2.Staff of House Democrat @AdamSchiff wrote to Twitter quite often, asking that tweets be taken down. This important use of taxpayer resources involved an ask about a “Peter Douche” parody photo of Joe Biden. The DNC made the same request: https://t.co/fM2Y2jxVKw pic.twitter.com/LIQMbns1B0
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
Schiff’s staff flagged the tweet and there was moral outrage over it in his camp making it clear they couldn’t take a joke. Twitter was asked to take it down and had to explain to Schiff’s foot soldiers, who obviously have no sense of humor that any of us are aware of, that it was a parody. They told Schiff that the image was altered as a joke.
“The real issue was Donald Trump retweeted the Biden pic. To its credit Twitter refused to remove it, with Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth saying it had obvious ‘humorous intent’ and ‘any reasonable observer’ – apparently, not a Schiff staffer – could see it was doctored,” Taibbi reported.
3.The real issue was Donald Trump retweeted the Biden pic. To its credit Twitter refused to remove it, with Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth saying it had obvious “humorous intent” and “any reasonable observer” – apparently, not a Schiff staffer – could see it was doctored. pic.twitter.com/QJtS6s506Z
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
Schiff’s office laughably argued that the meme was a “slippery slope concern.” Twitter didn’t budge.
4.Schiff staffer Jeff Lowenstein didn’t give up, claiming there was a “slippery slope concern here.” pic.twitter.com/qM1cJiZLFh
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
The congressman also tried to get New York Post reporter Paul Sperry suspended on Twitter. That request was denied as well and Sperry is now considering legal action against Schiff because he was suspended from the platform months later. None of that would have come to light if it weren’t for Elon Musk and the “Twitter Files.”
Hey @RepAdamSchiff, what’s this?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2023
Sperry told the New York Post that he’d “never promoted any ‘QAnon conspiracies.’ Ever. Not on Twitter. Not anywhere” and accused Schiff of “a scurrilous smear.”
“My stories went viral on Twitter, and he tried to silence me and remove content, which is outrageous censorship by a powerful government official. He was the head of the House Intelligence [Committee] at the time, and he was sworn to protect the First Amendment and free speech and the press,” Sperry told Fox News. “We are exploring legal options, including defamation.”
DEVELOPING: We are exploring all legal options, including suing @AdamSchiff personally for defamation
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) January 6, 2023
The report also noted that there were multiple requests from Schiff involving content about the congressman and his staff.
“Twitter also refused requests for bans of content about Schiff and his staff, e.g. ‘complete suppress[ion of] any and all search results about Mr. Misko and other Committee staffers.’ Twitter said this would not be ‘conceivable,’” Taibbi wrote.
5.Twitter also refused requests for bans of content about Schiff and his staff, e.g. “complete suppress[ion of] any and all search results about Mr. Misko and other Committee staffers.” Twitter said this would not be “conceivable.” pic.twitter.com/2HQrmp4fnY
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
6.Even when Twitter didn’t suspend an account, that didn’t mean they didn’t act. Schiff’s office repeatedly complained about “QAnon related activity” that were often tweets about other matters, like the identity of the Ukraine “whistleblower” or the Steele dossier: pic.twitter.com/XKzY8AmB5R
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
This isn’t the first time that Schiff has outed himself as humorless. In 2017, he was fooled by Russian comedian prank callers who offered him naked photos of former President Trump. Jumping at the offer, Schiff was all in until he found out the joke was on him, according to Roll Call. He was quick to assert he knew it was a prank all along.
“I’ll be in touch with the FBI about this. And we’ll make arrangements with your staff. I think it probably would be best to provide these materials both to our committee and to the FBI,” Schiff said at the time.
The “Twitter Files” also showed that Schiff was unhappy with Twitter’s strategy of de-amplifying QAnon accounts. He evidently wanted to make it easier for law enforcement and intel agencies to track those accused of being involved in the movement.
8.Schiff’s office had a concern about “deamplification,” though: it might make it harder for law enforcement to track the offending Tweeters.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
9.“WE APPRECIATE GREATLY”
“We are curious whether any deamplification measures implemented by Twitter’s enforcement team – which we appreciate greatly – could… impede the ability of law enforcement to search Twitter for potential threats about Misko and other HPSCI staff.” pic.twitter.com/h7TRauK6j5— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
“Twitter had no editorial input. Searches were carried out by third parties, so the documents could be limited,” Taibbi concluded.
Republished with permission from American Wire News Service
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