The House panel investigating the federal government’s “arming” and subsequent “Twitter files” got off to a fiery start Thursday when the Republican-led hearing ended with a series of sniper attacks between Rep. Jim Jordan (R- Ohio) and the senior member, Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands).
The chairman launched a tirade against the “cozy relationship” between big tech and government agencies, with particular anger at the release of emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop and the removal of the story from Twitter.
“What a coincidence,” snapped Jordan.
Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, speaks during a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill February 9, 2023 in Washington
Twitter is accused of having a cozy relationship with government agencies.
Plaskett countered that Republicans continue to promote a misleading narrative and have questionable motives.
“Something is going on between Congressional Republicans and Elon Musk,” she said. ‘Mister. Chairman, the Americans can see through this. Musk helps you politically, and you make every effort to promote and protect him and praise him for his work.
‘Ridiculous!’ snapped Jordan while continuing to argue with Plaskett, who complained that Democrats were denied access to Federal Trade Commission letters until 8 p.m. the night before the hearing.
The chairman introduced the witnesses, including Substack journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, who were granted access by Elon Musk to review “substantial” amounts of Twitter’s internal communications about possible working relationships between social media companies and government agencies.
In his opening remarks, Taibbi told the panel that he had generated a lot of public interest when the first Twitter Files reports came out.
“My computer was like a slot machine when the very first tweet about the Hunter Biden laptop story being blocked had 143 million views and 30 million interactions.”
Taibbi caught the attention of millions of viewers when the first episode focused on Twitter’s internal discussions that led them to censor Hunter Biden’s laptop during the 2020 presidential election as some officials tried to explain that he opposed the Violate “hacked materials” policies.
“We learned that Twitter, Facebook, Google and other companies have developed a formal system to take measured ‘requests’ from all corners of government: the FBI, DHS, HHS, DOD, the Global Engagement Center at State, even the CIA .”
Taibbi wrote, “Creating such lists is undoubtedly a form of digital McCarthyism.”
“We just saw that with the Covid lab leak theory. Many of the institutions we are now investigating initially labeled the idea that Covid originated in a laboratory as “disinformation” and conspiracy theory. Now apparently even the FBI is taking it seriously. ‘
“The First Amendment and an American population accustomed to the right to speak is the left’s best defense against the censorship-industrial complex,” he wrote.
“If anything emerges from the Twitter files, it is that we risk losing this most precious right, without which all other democratic rights are impossible.”
Michael Shellenberger’s testimony warned that “the industrial censorship complex” will have a dangerous impact on the First Amendment.
“I offer some warnings. I don’t know how much of the censorship is coordinated beyond what we’ve been able to document, and I won’t speculate. And I support governments’ right to communicate with the public, including to object to inaccurate and misleading information. But government officials have been repeatedly caught urging social media platforms to censor unpopular users and content.
“The government no longer needs the predicate of labeling you terrorists or extremists to use government resources to counter your political activity. The only predicate it needs is simply to claim that the opinion you have expressed on social media is wrong.”
“Something is going on between the Republicans in Congress and Elon Musk,” said Senior Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands).
Independent journalist Matt Taibbi testifies before House Committee on “Twitter Files”.
Journalist Michael Shellenberger testifies on the “Twitter files” before the House Select Subcommittee on Arming the Federal Government
President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden leave Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, SC House Republicans have initially requested documents from Hunter and James Biden on foreign deals.
Hunter Biden’s laptop left at a computer repair shop – the contents are disputed but almost everyone agrees it is devastating for the President’s son
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11840421/Twitter-Files-hearings-reveal-censorship-weaponization-government.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 Hearings on ‘Twitter files’ reveal government censorship and arming
