“Twitter is both a social media company and a crime scene,” Elon Musk said Saturday, and he wasn’t exaggerating. The third installment of the Twitter files drops proved that the government, namely the FBI, got involved in the process of censorship of Donald Trump on the platform.
The fourth installment, shared via Twitter by independent journalist Michael Shellenberger, went into greater detail about the internal decision-making process in which Twitter created justification to ban Trump.
Dorsey was on vacation in French Polynesia the week of January 4-8, 2021. He phoned into meetings but also delegated much of the handling of the situation to senior execs @yoyoel , Twitter’s Global Head of Trust and Safety, and @vijaya Head of Legal, Policy, & Trust.
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 10, 2022
As context, it's important to understand that Twitter’s staff & senior execs were overwhelmingly progressive.
In 2018, 2020, and 2022, 96%, 98%, & 99% of Twitter staff's political donations went to Democrats. https://t.co/XdwkdPwYVQ
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 10, 2022
In this update, we learned that Yoel Roth, Twitter’s Trust and Security head (who is also, apparently, a groomer) was mostly in charge of what happened because former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was on vacation in French Polynesia when the Capitol riot occurred. Dorsey was generally the voice of reason during this process and seemed reluctant to ban world leaders from the platform.
“On Jan 7, senior Twitter execs:
– create justifications to ban Trump
– seek a change of policy for Trump alone, distinct from other political leaders
– express no concern for the free speech or democracy implications of a ban
This #TwitterFiles is reported with @lwoodhouse,” the first post read.
On Jan 7, senior Twitter execs:
– create justifications to ban Trump
– seek a change of policy for Trump alone, distinct from other political leaders
– express no concern for the free speech or democracy implications of a ban
This #TwitterFiles is reported with @lwoodhouse
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 10, 2022
Shellenberger’s thread led off with Twitter communications revealing that Twitter employees had previously resisted calls to ban Trump but essentially caved to public pressure after the Capitol riot, creating a justification to ban him permanently.
But not everyone was on board. In fact, CEO Jack Dorsey was hesitant to ban Trump, though he appears to have approved of a temporary suspension, urging consistency in how their policies were enforced. However, Roth questioned Dorsey’s interpretations of the policy. Even lower-level Twitter officials were concerned about First Amendment issues resulting in the banning of a world leader. But, as we know, those concerns were clearly ignored.
Around 11:30 am PT, Roth DMs his colleagues with news that he is excited to share.
“GUESS WHAT,” he writes. “Jack just approved repeat offender for civic integrity.”
The new approach would create a system where five violations ("strikes") would result in permanent suspension. pic.twitter.com/F1KYqd1Xea
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 11, 2022
These communications suggest that Dorsey may have been largely unaware of what was going on and that Roth was the culprit in this situation.
“On J8, Twitter says its ban is based on ‘specifically how [Trump’s tweets] are being received & interpreted,'” Shellenberger wrote. “But in 2019, Twitter said it did ‘not attempt to determine all potential interpretations of the content or its intent.’”
On J8, Twitter says its ban is based on "specifically how [Trump's tweets] are being received & interpreted."
But in 2019, Twitter said it did "not attempt to determine all potential interpretations of the content or its intent.” https://t.co/2jW1s5pH4W pic.twitter.com/8gZwIDtyUQ
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 11, 2022
Roth resigned from Twitter last month.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member