Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli army admits 3 soldiers of rank of Staff Sergeant were killed, 2 others injured in northern Gaza.
Occupied Palestine: Palestinian media: Martyrs and injuries as a result of the Israeli occupation firing on displaced people while they were waiting for aid west of Rafah.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in occupied Palestine: 3 martyrs, including a child, as a result of Israeli occupation forces bombing displaced persons' tents in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Israeli media: Yedioth Ahronoth: Concern in "Israel" over changes within the US administration in recent days.
Al-Qassam Brigades says its fighters are engaging in fierce clashes with the occupation forces, killing and wounding soldiers east of Jabalia camp.
Israeli media platforms are circulating preliminary reports about a multi-causalty ambush in Jabalia camp, Gaza.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 35 martyrs, 75 injured in occupation targeting of civilians seeking food aid in Rafah, Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Da Silva: What is happening in Gaza is not a war, it is a genocide
Da Silva: Even the Jewish people do not want this war; it is revenge by a government against the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state
Brazilian President Lula da Silva: What we are seeing is not a war between two armies. [What we have is a] completely professional army that is killing women and children in the Gaza Strip.

Federal, state govs monitor Americans' social posts: TWITTER FILES

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Daily Mail
  • 18 Dec 2022 12:36
  • 2 Shares
3 Min Read

"Twitter files" reveal that the FBI and former Twitter Senior Director of Trust & Safety exchanged more than 150 emails.

  • x
  • Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco, Calif. Source: David Odisho/Getty Images.
    Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco, California (Getty Images)

A new release in The Twitter Files series came out on Friday afternoon, revealing that federal law enforcement officials were working closely with Twitter employees to censor content.

Journalist Matt Taibbi reported that Yoel Roth, then-Twitter Senior Director of Trust & Safety, exchanged more than 150 emails with the FBI between January 2020 and November 2022.

“A surprisingly high number are requests by the FBI for Twitter to take action on election misinformation, even involving joke tweets from low-follower accounts,” Taibbi said.

“The FBI’s social media-focused task force, known as FTIF, created in the wake of the 2016 election, swelled to 80 agents and corresponded with Twitter to identify alleged foreign influence and election tampering of all kinds.”

Read next: TWITTER FILES: Twitter execs worked closely with FBI, US intelligence

“Federal intelligence and law enforcement reach into Twitter included the Department of Homeland Security, which partnered with security contractors and think tanks to pressure Twitter to moderate content,” he continued.

According to the most recent documents discovered during the investigation, the FBI and DHS were "regularly sending social media content to Twitter through multiple entry points, pre-flagged for moderation."

Taibbi showed examples of the FBI reaching out to get action taken on specific tweets:

“HELLO TWITTER CONTACTS”: The master-canine quality of the FBI’s relationship to Twitter comes through in this November 2022 email, in which “FBI San Francisco is notifying you” it wants action on four accounts: pic.twitter.com/LjgB6fxENo

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 16, 2022

Stacia Cardille, then-director and associate general counsel for Twitter's global policy legal team, emailed then-Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker, saying she was meeting with the FBI, DOJ, DHS, and ODNI about election threats on a regular basis.

Other internal company emails revealed employees reviewing a list of tweets flagged by the FBI as having "possible violative content":

Related News

Kataib Hezbollah warns US forces against postponing Iraq withdrawal

US expects countries to provide offers in tariff talks by Wednesday

28. About one, she writes: “Flagged a specific Tweet on Illinois use of modems to transmit election results in possible violation of the civic integrity policy (except they do use that tech in limited circumstances).”

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 16, 2022

The FBI also shared DHS bulletins about threats to US elections with Twitter.

31. In this March, 2021 email, an FBI liaison thanks a senior Twitter exec for the chance to speak to “you and the team,” then delivers a packet of “products”: pic.twitter.com/POOpYrd9q8

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 16, 2022

“The ubiquity of the 2016 Russian interference story as stated pretext for building out the censorship machine can’t be overstated,” Taibbi wrote. “It’s analogous to how 9/11 inspired the expansion of the security state.”

Read next: Ex-Twitter CEO responsible for social network's political censorship

The volume of tweets flagged by the FBI, according to Taibbi, was so large that Twitter employees congratulated each other in internal company communications for the "monumental undertaking" of reviewing them.

Taibbi also revealed that the government has multiple channels through which it can submit content-related information to Twitter.

35.FBI in one case sent over so many “possible violative content” reports, Twitter personnel congratulated each other in Slack for the “monumental undertaking” of reviewing them: pic.twitter.com/rt5WzhfCga

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 16, 2022

The state of California also inquired as to why the company did not respond to a tweet from then-President Donald Trump.

39.Twitter for instance received reports via the Partner Support Portal, an outlet created by the Center for Internet Security, a partner organization to the DHS.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 16, 2022

"What most people think of as the 'deep state' is really a tangled collaboration of state agencies, private contractors, and (sometimes state-funded) NGOs," Taibbi said, adding that "the lines become so blurred as to be meaningless."

Read next: TWITTER FILES: James Woods furious on explicit Hunter post censorship

  • United States
  • Matt Taibbi
  • Elon Musk
  • Twitter
  • Twitter Files

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP)

Hamas rejects Witkoff ceasefire plan, says alters terms

  • Politics
  • 29 May 2025
Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announces a new operation against Ben Gurion Airport on May 29, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen announces successful hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion

  • Politics
  • 30 May 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Army commanders tour the operations sectors of the Iraqi army Seventh Brigade, in Anbar, Iraq, Sunday, December 29, 2019 (AP)
Politics

Kataib Hezbollah warns US forces against postponing Iraq withdrawal

(@rafaelmgrossi)
Politics

Egypt urges 'Israel' to join NPT, citing regional nuclear imbalance

AP
Politics

US deal proposal allows Iran to enrich Uranium to Low-Level: Reports

screengrab
Politics

Former Biden spox. Matthew Miller says 'Israel' committed war crimes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS