Twitter Files: Censor-Happy Executives Used Tools to Suppress Breitbart News

The latest installment of the Twitter Files reveals that the censorship-loving leftists running the show before Elon Musk took over the platform used tech tools to suppress content posted by Breitbart News after adding a “bot” to the official Breitbart News Twitter account. As journalist Matt Taibbi explains, “The bot ends up becoming an automated tool invisibly watching both Trump and, apparently, Breitbart.”

Part three of the Twitter Files, released through journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday night, focused on the company’s unprecedented decision to blacklist former President Donald Trump’s account on January 8, 2021.

Vijaya Gadde, general counsel for Twitter Inc., stands for a photograph at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014. Vijaya Gadde, who became Twitter's general counsel in August 2013, helped lead the company through its initial public offering and its largest acquisition. She is the highest-ranking woman executive at the company. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Vijaya Gadde, general counsel for Twitter Inc.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal (Google Cloud/YouTube)

The first installment of the Twitter Files on Trump’s suspension, which is set to be followed up by two additional installments, focused on Twitter’s censorship tactics in the months leading up to January 6, 2021.

As Breitbart News reported:

In his Twitter thread, Taibbi pointed out that the “intellectual framework” for banning Trump’s account was already laid out before January 6, which suggests that the Capitol Riots were simply their excuse for finally doing what they had always wanted to do.

Taibbi revealed that, as part of its “vast range of visible and invisible tools to rein in Trump’s engagement,” Twitter moderators added a “bot” to a Breitbart News video that Trump tweeted out that showed him speaking about the need to “root out” alleged voter fraud.

48. The significance is that it shows that Twitter, in 2020 at least, was deploying a vast range of visible and invisible tools to rein in Trump’s engagement, long before J6. The ban will come after other avenues are exhausted

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 10, 2022

As Taibbi reported:

In Twitter docs execs frequently refer to “bots,” e.g. “let’s put a bot on that.” A bot is just any automated heuristic moderation rule. It can be anything: every time a person in Brazil uses “green” and “blob” in the same sentence, action might be taken.

Aside from adding the suppression tool to Trump’s tweet, Twitter reportedly added a “bot” for Breitbart News.

“In this instance, it appears moderators added a bot for a Trump claim made on Breitbart. The bot ends up becoming an automated tool invisibly watching both Trump and, apparently, Breitbart (‘will add media ID to bot’). Trump by J6 was quickly covered in bots,” Taibbi tweeted along with a screenshot of internal communications from Twitter staff about Trump’s post.

50. In this instance, it appears moderators added a bot for a Trump claim made on Breitbart. The bot ends up becoming an automated tool invisibly watching both Trump and, apparently, Breitbart (“will add media ID to bot”). Trump by J6 was quickly covered in bots. pic.twitter.com/UhYQ31qIgn

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 10, 2022

“Hey team, gonna add a Fraud Claim label to this. Claim of fraud at about 40 secs of video,” an unknown Twitter employee wrote along with a link to Trump’s tweet in question.

“Yep,” Twitter’s former Trust and Safety head Yoel Roth replied, seemingly approving the decision to suppress Trump’s tweet.

Another unknown Twitter employee then announced that they would “also add media id to bot.”

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