It's been two months since billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk purchased and took over Twitter as the social media platform's CEO.
Since then, he's worked with a number of journalists to publish the "Twitter Files," a series of stories exposing how former Twitter executives worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, the White House, government health tyrants and many others to squash dissent and censor information. The Twitter Files revealed the federal government used private industry to subvert the First Amendment rights of Americans.
For years before Musk took over the platform and especially during the 2020 presidential election, when Twitter censored the Hunter Biden laptop story and banned accounts that shared it, users have suspected this behavior was occurring behind the scenes. They were attacked as "conspiracy theorists," including as recently as last week by the FBI.
FBI Issues Response to Twitter Files: "It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency." pic.twitter.com/EBV81F8E11
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 21, 2022
But now, Twitter critics and censored users are being vindicated.
Elon Musk: “Almost every conspiracy theory that people had about Twitter turned out to be true.”pic.twitter.com/OktxyIoHmq
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) December 25, 2022
Meanwhile, incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan officially launched the investigation into big tech censorship last week with a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray.
"We are investigating politicization and abuses at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as Big Tech's censorship of conservatives online. Newly released information shows the FBI has coordinated extensively with Twitter to censor or otherwise affect content on Twitter's platform. These documents show that the FBI maintained this relationship with Twitter apart from any particularized need for a specific investigation, but as a permanent and ongoing surveillance operation. These revelations sadly reinforce our deep concerns about the FBI's misconduct and its hostility to the First Amendment," the letter states.
"From disclosed Twitter documents and publicly available information, it is clear the FBI worked extensively with Twitter to advance censorship of certain speech on Twitter's platform. Twitter’s internal documents reflect a 'cozy relationship' between the FBI and Twitter," the letter continues. "The FBI's close coordination with Big Tech threatens Americans' civil liberties."
Step one. #TwitterFiles pic.twitter.com/LpqOR8E01K
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) December 23, 2022