Elon Musk announced he will make internal files on Twitter’s suppression of free speech available to the public, prompting speculation of revelations into how the social media giant censored stories related to Hunter Biden’s laptop prior to the 2020 presidential election.
“The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself,” Musk wrote in a non-specific Monday afternoon tweet. “The public deserves to know what really happened…”
The message led the New York Post to openly wonder if the release of such files would open eyes to what happened behind the scenes when their bombshell story regarding the President’s son was blocked by Twitter.
Last week a user asked followers their thoughts on whether Musk “should make public all internal discussions about the decision to censor the [Post’s] story on Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election” in the interest of transparency.
Musk replied that such a move would be “necessary to restore public trust.”
This is necessary to restore public trust
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2022
Elon Musk Threatens to Release Internal Twitter Files
Elon Musk expanded on the notion that he would produce internal Twitter files related to the suppression of information to the public, hinting they would be published on the very platform that had allegedly engaged in censorship.
“Part of the potential disclosure is likely to include the full story of Twitter’s censorship of The Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop in the weeks before the 2020 presidential election,” the Post writes.
Other revelations might include internal discussions on banning former President Donald Trump from the platform or general conversations amongst staff on decisions involving the banning of numerous right-leaning accounts.
It may also reveal how and why users were banned or suspended for speaking out against COVID-19 vaccines or efforts to ‘stop the spread.’
In a follow-up tweet, Musk pushed the importance of making the files public. It is a fight for public knowledge he takes quite seriously.
“This is a battle for the future of civilization,” he wrote in a now-pinned tweet. “If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead.”
This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2022
Conservatives Celebrate Musk’s Move
Conservative users were chomping at the bit following Musk’s announcement.
“Unleash hell,” wrote the Columbia Bugle.
Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert replied, “Let’s get it ALL out there!”
Let’s get it ALL out there!
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) November 28, 2022
Several other users tweeted GIFs or emojis suggesting they were getting the popcorn ready. A glimpse at the internal workings of a social media company, it is their contention, could prove once and for all that conservative free speech in America was stifled.
Prior to purchasing the platform, Musk condemned Twitter’s censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story as “obviously incredibly inappropriate.”
Beyond inappropriate, it actually swayed an election.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, admitted during a podcast with host Joe Rogan in August that Facebook had algorithmically throttled the reach on any posts involving the Hunter laptop scandal following a visit from the FBI.
Zuckerberg said they were not specifically instructed by the FBI to focus on the Hunter Biden story but the company apparently did so anyway because “it basically fit the pattern” mentioned in the visit.
Did the FBI make similar outreach efforts to Twitter? Did people in Biden’s campaign?
If you’re wondering why Facebook almost immediately censored the NYPost story on Hunter Biden’s laptop, Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan that the FBI warned the company about “Russian disinformation” right before the story went live. pic.twitter.com/H34g8NZxHw
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 25, 2022
Zuckerberg admitted to throttling the reach of the Biden story, while Twitter blocked it all together and suspended accounts if they repeatedly tried to share the information.
Last month, a conservative legal group filed a lawsuit in federal court against the FBI after they failed to turn over communications between the bureau and Big Tech companies related to alleged efforts to censor the laptop story.
Twitter was also the focus of an explosive Time magazine investigative piece titled, “The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election.”
The story focused on a scenario involving “a well-funded cabal of powerful people” who worked in concert to change election laws and control the dissemination of information before and after the election.
The secret history of the shadow campaign that saved the 2020 electionhttps://t.co/xG3S60cP2L
— TIME (@TIME) February 5, 2021
Will the Twitter cabal finally be revealed with Elon Musk’s release of their internal files?
The Time column references a little-known effort by “a veteran progressive operative” to combat “disinformation” on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
“In November 2019, Mark Zuckerberg invited nine civil rights leaders to dinner at his home, where they warned him about the danger of the election-related falsehoods that were already spreading unchecked,” the column reveals.
Vanita Gupta, who was later nominated for Associate Attorney General by President Biden, attended the dinner and also met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
FBI sued for alleged failure to provide communications with Big Tech regarding Hunter Biden laptop censorship https://t.co/Ep6wRFwXQK
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 4, 2022
Gupta conveyed the pressure those in attendance placed on the Big Tech titans.
“It took pushing, urging, conversations, brainstorming, all of that to get to a place where we ended up with more rigorous rules and enforcement,” she said.
The social media companies would eventually ban or suppress the reach of accounts making suggestions that there were integrity issues concerning the 2020 election.
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