Twitter Files sequel: Pfizer pressed Twitter to hide anti-vax posts
In the latest reveal, Twitter Files expose “how the pharmaceutical industry lobbied social media to shape content around vaccine policy.”
-
The UK approved Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. (AFP via Getty Images)
The latest Twitter Files sequel unmasked that Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a Pfizer director with almost 550,000 Twitter followers, noticed a tweet, on August 27, 2021, that irritated him, a tweet that could harm Pfizer's mRNA vaccine sales.
The tweet correctly stated that natural immunity following Covid infection was superior to vaccination protection. It urged the administration to "respect the research" and exempt persons with inherent immunity from forthcoming vaccine mandates.
1. New piece from the TWITTER FILES.
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) January 16, 2023
How the pharmaceutical industry lobbied social media to shape content around vaccine policy.
The push included direct pressure from Pfizer partner BioNTech to censor activists demanding low-cost generic vaccines for low-income countries.
It came not from an "anti-vaxxer" like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but from Dr. Brett Giroir, a physician who briefly succeeded Gottlieb as FDA commissioner. Furthermore, the message urged anyone who lacked natural immunity to "Get vaccinated!"
It's now clear #COVID19 natural immunity is superior to #vaccine immunity, by ALOT. There's no science justification for #vax proof if a person had prior infection. @CDCDirector @POTUS must follow the science. If no previous infection? Get vaccinated! https://t.co/jFc0yHpF2f
— Brett Giroir (@DrGiroir) August 28, 2021
The tweet may create concerns about the shots by implying that certain people may not require Covid vaccines. Gottlieb was a senior board member at Pfizer, which relied on mRNA shots for about half of its $81 billion in sales in 2021, in addition to being a former FDA commissioner, a CNBC commentator, and a major voice on Covid public policy. Gottlieb was paid $365,000 for his work that year by Pfizer.
Gottlieb stepped in, sending an email to Todd O'Boyle, a key lobbyist at Twitter's Washington office who also served as the company's point of contact with the White House.
"The post was corrosive," Gottlieb wrote. He was concerned that it would "go viral and drive national coverage."
I discovered the email while conducting a search of Twitter data last week as part of Elon Musk's Twitter Files endeavors to lift the veil on censoring choices taken by Twitter prior to Musk's purchase of the firm in October.
O'Boyle submitted Gottlieb's email to the Twitter "Strategic Response" team using Jira, an internal system Twitter utilized to manage complaints. This organization was in charge of dealing with issues raised by the company's most important workers and users.
"Please examine this report from the former FDA commissioner," O'Boyle wrote, overlooking the fact that Gottlieb was a Pfizer board member with a financial stake in pushing mRNA shots.
An analyst with Strategic Response swiftly determined that the tweet did not break any of the company's disinformation policies.
Nonetheless, Giroir's message was flagged by Twitter, with a deceptive tag that prevented practically everyone from seeing it. Despite the fact that multiple significant investigations have supported Giroir's comments, it remains tagged.
Gottlieb tried to strike again a week later, on September 3, 2021, complaining to O'Boyle about a tweet from Justin Hart.
"I've raised concerns about social media and the threats that are being made on these platforms," says @ScottGottliebMD on Alex Berenson being kicked off Twitter. "I'm unconcerned about debate being made. I'm concerned about physical threats being made for people's safety." pic.twitter.com/hxpALiT6dZ
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) October 14, 2022
Hart has over 100,000 Twitter followers and is a lockdown and Covid vaccination skeptic.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but a viral pathogen with a child mortality rate of <>0% has cost our children nearly three years of schooling,” Hart wrote.
It's unclear why Gottlieb objected to Hart's statements, but the Pfizer shot would soon be approved for children aged 5 to 11, offering another large market for Pfizer if parents could be convinced Covid was a significant hazard to their children.
When he emailed the paper, O'Boyle referred to "former FDA Commissioner Gottlieb," ignoring Gottlieb's current position for Pfizer.
This time, though, Gottlieb's complaint was so broad that Twitter refused to take action.
It is worth noting that Gottlieb is one of seven members of the board's executive committee and the chairman of the regulatory and compliance committee, which is in charge of "compliance with laws, regulations, and internal processes pertaining to pharmaceutical sales and marketing activities."
Pfizer has a long history of breaking pharma industry laws and ethical guidelines. For unlawfully selling multiple medications, it agreed to pay $2.3 billion in 2009, the largest healthcare fraud settlement in US history. In 1996, it conducted a clinical study of an antibiotic in Nigeria, which resulted in the deaths of 11 children and served as the idea for John le Carre's novel The Constant Gardner.
What are the Twitter Files?
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, is the mastermind behind the so-called Twitter Files. He has stated that he wants to demonstrate "what really happened" about behind-the-scenes content moderation choices at the social media business before he acquired it in October.
Three journalists, Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and Michael Shellenberger, have been delving into internal documents and conversations to highlight the company's decision-making process surrounding some high-profile actions, such as banning former President Donald Trump in January 2020. The Twitter Files have been released in bits and pieces throughout December into January.
