“Twitter Files” Program State Dept Demanded Suspension of 250,000 Users

Twitter CEO Elon Musk states the State Department required that 250,000 accounts be suspended– consisting of those of reporters and foreign federal government authorities.

“US govt agency demanded suspension of 250k accounts, including journalists & Canadian officials!” Musk tweeted Tuesday in reaction to press reporter Matt Taibbi, who released the most recent edition of the Twitter Files, which are a series of discoveries about the social networks business that Musk offered to press reporters.

In a thread Tuesday– entitled “Twitter and the FBI ‘Belly Button’ “– Taibbi stated that the social networks platform was tired of being bypassed as companies took lists of suspicious accounts straight to the media.

Twitter persuaded the State Department’s International Engagement Center to notify the platform about doubtful accounts.

E-mails released by Taibbi reveal Twitter staff members talking about CNN’s Might 2020 story that the center flagged almost 250,000 accounts, which a representative for the federal company stated at the time “were created with the intent to amplify Chinese propaganda and disinformation.”

One Twitter staff member said in an e-mail that the federal government’s list of accounts consisted of CNN, the Canadian military and users following 2 or more Chinese diplomats.

E-mails from Twitter’s previous head of trust and security, Yoel Roth, appear to reveal the platform saw the FBI and Department of Homeland Security as apolitical and appeared to choose being included with the companies over the International Engagement Center.

Regardless of investing years following other demands to do something about it on accounts with opposing views, Roth stated in an e-mail that Twitter would not follow the center’s demand since it would trigger “major risks” ahead of the 2020 election.

“I think they thought the FBI was less Trumpy,” a previous Defense Department authorities informed Taibbi.

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