As more editions of the Twitter Files come out, liberals and their allies in the mainstream media continue their collective freakout. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), as was recently highlighted, has come out against people even reading them. In light of the seventh edition of these Twitter Files, and Elon Musk commenting on them with quoted retweets, as our friends at Twitchy highlighted, CNN's Oliver Darcy had to add in his own two cents to remind people that Musk suspended journals, though it's also worth reminding he reinstated them soon after.
As (outgoing) Chair of House Intelligence, did you approve hidden state censorship in direct violation of the Constitution of the United States @RepAdamSchiff?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2022
Just noting the irony in Musk lobbing accusations of censorship at anyone as he also maintains open bans on journalists on his own platform. https://t.co/rOOJMLRZ3T
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 20, 2022
In just a short few hours, there have already been more than 250 replies to Darcy's snide remark. And, with a tone of that, Darcy is not "Just noting the irony" of something that isn't actually ironic. There's a lot more to it.
What Musk's detractors love to seem to forget as they rant and rave about free speech, is that Musk had cause to suspend the accounts that he did, when it comes to doxxing his family, a move that led to his family being stalked. It's also Musk's move to make as the one in charge at Twitter, while he is still in charge that is, provided he doesn't indeed step down after he released a poll asking users to chime in about whether he should step down.
Further, the bigger story is that Musk asked a very important question of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and how he used his power, as Nick Arama highlighted at RedState as well.
The FBI was not only pressuring Twitter to engage in censorship, but appears to have been paying the social media platform to do so.
Since his quoted retweet of Musk, Darcy has also released a statement from Schiff, who himself tweeted out a similar response to Musk's tweet.
New: @RepAdamSchiff responds to @elonmusk suggesting he might have approved "hidden state censorship."
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 20, 2022
"No, I don’t support censorship. That is a fanatical stretch even from an (outgoing) CEO whose tenure at Twitter has been marked by a dramatic increase in hate speech." pic.twitter.com/jtOMXAtBa1
I don’t support censorship. Or hate speech.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 20, 2022
As the (outgoing) CEO of Twitter, how about you? Why not do more to stop slurs against Black people, LGBTQ+ people, Jewish people, and others? Do you commit to providing the public with actual answers and data, not just tweets? https://t.co/aejdHNLud5
The gaslighting as well as an extreme case of whataboutism is strong with Schiff. "No, I don't support censorship," he claimed in his statement. "That is a fanatical stretch even from an (outgoing) CEO whose tenure at Twitter has been marked by a dramatic increase in hate speech." Schiff went on to add that "I do believe in corporate and civic responsibility," as he suggested that "[m]aybe Elon should put down the phone and do more to stop slurs against Black, LGBTQ, Jewish and other people on his social media platform? Or at least commit to providing the public with actual answers and data, instead of meaningless tweets."
That's exactly what is going on with the Twitter Files, except it doesn't fit the narrative of Democrats like Schiff and Lieu, or of liberal reporters like Darcy.
Further, as Spencer highlighted on Monday, Rep. Schiff was among those Democrats who sent out a letter to the Facebook company of Meta demanding that they keep up with censorship.
For all that there is to unpack and its true consequences for free speech, Darcy would rather lament last week's suspension of fellow liberal journalists. This just goes to show you where their priorities lie, especially when they excused or even cheered on the censorship of conservative accounts under the old Twitter.