{"id":523908,"date":"2022-12-09T10:28:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T07:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/twitter-and-democrats-lied-about-censorship\/"},"modified":"2022-12-09T10:28:08","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T07:28:08","slug":"twitter-and-democrats-lied-about-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/twitter-and-democrats-lied-about-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"#Twitter and Democrats lied about censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a297d581039a\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a297d581039a\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/twitter-and-democrats-lied-about-censorship\/#%E2%80%9CTwitter_and_Democrats_lied_about_censorship%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Twitter and Democrats lied about censorship&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CTwitter_and_Democrats_lied_about_censorship%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Twitter and Democrats lied about censorship&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>\u201c1984\u201d author George Orwell warned that \u201cif thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.\u201d\u00a0That line has never been more relevant than in the aftermath of the second release of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> documents this week.<\/p>\n<p>Many liberals had denied the social-media giant was engaging in censorship by using the more pleasant term \u201ccontent modification.\u201d Now, documents show Twitter executives burying \u201cdisfavored\u201d views as \u201cvisibility filtering\u201d and \u201camplification\u201d limits.<\/p>\n<p>Calling executives the \u201cHead of Legal, Policy, and Trust\u201d (Vijaya Gadde) and the \u201cGlobal Head of Trust &amp; Safety\u201d (Yoel Roth) doesn\u2019t alter their status as some of the greatest censors in history.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the license for this massive system clearly came from Twitter\u2019s very top. Shadow banning and \u201cvisibility filtering\u201d are consistent with the policies of ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, who <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/04\/18\/twitter-faces-the-nightmare-of-being-forced-into-free-speech\/\">pledged<\/a> the company would \u201cfocus less on thinking about free speech\u201d because \u201cspeech is easy on the Internet. Most people can speak. Where our role is particularly emphasized is who can be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So we now know that Twitter was not only banning dissenting voices on subjects ranging from COVID to climate change but was throttling or suppressing the traffic for disfavored writers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"915\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/nypost_20200528_BRXP-3_001.jpg?w=915\" alt=\"New York Post cover for May 28, 2020 features Twitter fact checker Yoel Roth. \" class=\"wp-image-24953137\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/nypost_20200528_BRXP-3_001.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1830 1830w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/nypost_20200528_BRXP-3_001.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1373 1372w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/nypost_20200528_BRXP-3_001.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=915 915w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/nypost_20200528_BRXP-3_001.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=458 457w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/nypost_20200528_BRXP-3_001.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 915px) 100vw, 915px\"\/><figcaption>New York Post cover for May 28, 2020 features Twitter fact checker Yoel Roth. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Among those targeted was Stanford professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who wrote about how COVID lockdowns would harm children. He and others have been vindicated in flagging those worries, but Twitter <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bariweiss\/status\/1601011428579717121\">secretly\u00a0placed him<\/a> on a \u201cTrends Blacklist\u201d\u00a0to prevent his tweets from trending. It\u2019s a telling list because it reflects an acknowledgment that such tweets would trend with users if the company didn\u2019t suppress them.<\/p>\n<p>Some of us have been raising concerns over Twitter\u2019s massive censorship system for years, including what I called the emergence of a \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2021\/07\/19\/the-shadow-state-embracing-corporations-as-surrogates-for-government-action\/\">shadow state<\/a>\u201d where corporations carry out censorship the Constitution bars the government from doing.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s striking is leading Democrats have been open about precisely this type of corporate manipulation of political speech on social media. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called upon these companies to use\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2021\/09\/29\/enlightened-algorithms-democrats-call-for-increased-corporate-controls-to-protect-citizens-from-their-own-dangerous-curiosities\/\">enlightened algorithms to protect users<\/a>\u00a0from their own bad reading choices.<\/p>\n<p>Even President Joe Biden called for such regulation of speech and discussions by wise editors. Without such censorship and manipulation, Biden asked, \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/11\/05\/de-madness-biden-unleashes-tirade-over-musk-restoring-free-speech-protections-on-twitter\/\">How do people know the truth?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"954\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/twitter-employees-worried-elon-musk-compensation-02-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Elon Musk speaks to employees at the Twitter headquarters not long after taking over the social media giant.\" class=\"wp-image-24953138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/twitter-employees-worried-elon-musk-compensation-02-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/twitter-employees-worried-elon-musk-compensation-02-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/twitter-employees-worried-elon-musk-compensation-02-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Elon Musk speaks to employees at the Twitter headquarters not long after taking over the social media giant.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Twitter<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It is still early to determine possible legal implications of these files, but there are some areas likely to be of immediate concern for counsel.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>First,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/elon-musk-tells-jack-dorsey-important-twitter-files-hidden-bosses-suggests-deleted\">Elon Musk has suggested<\/a>\u00a0that some material may have been intentionally hidden or destroyed despite inquiries from Congress. Twitter was told to expect a congressional investigation into these areas.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not clear if this was material allegedly deleted as part of a regular process or a specific effort to destroy evidence of censorship or throttling. Such obstruction cases, however, can be difficult to bring absent clear evidence. In 2005, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned accounting firm Arthur Andersen\u2019s conviction for its destruction of documents under a standard record-management system.<\/p>\n<p>Second, destruction of documents could also prove relevant as part of an investigation into whether false statements were given under oath. Twitter executives denied such secret suppression efforts both in public and before Congress. Indeed, a\u00a0recent\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Doc.-45-First-Amended-Complaint.pdf\">federal filing<\/a>\u00a0revealed a 2021 email between Twitter executives and Carol Crawford, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s digital media chief. Crawford wanted to censor \u201cun<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roved opinions\u201d on social media; Twitter replied that \u201cwith our CEO testifying before Congress this week [it] is tricky.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At that hearing, social-media companies were asked about my prior\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/energycommerce.house.gov\/sites\/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov\/files\/documents\/Witness%2520Testimony_Turley_CAT_2021.02.24.pdf\">testimony on private censorship<\/a>\u00a0in circumventing the First Amendment. In response, Dorsey insisted that \u201cwe don\u2019t have a censoring department.\u201d Dorsey also\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/tech\/no-bias-at-twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-denies-anti-conservative-allegations\">expressly denied<\/a>\u00a0under oath that there was \u201cshadow banning\u201d based on political ideology.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, in 2018, Gadde and Head of Product Kayvon Beykpour expressly declared, \u201cWe do not shadow ban. And we certainly don\u2019t shadow ban based on political viewpoints or ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Biden-White-House-Holidays.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"President Joe Biden\" class=\"wp-image-24953136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Biden-White-House-Holidays.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Biden-White-House-Holidays.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Biden-White-House-Holidays.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Biden-White-House-Holidays.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The way Twitter handled the release of information surrounding Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 election has been a hot topic since Musk took over Twitter. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Carolyn Kaster\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It turns out you don\u2019t need a \u201cdepartment\u201d if the entire company was acting as a massive censorship and suppression machine. Moreover, one \u201cdepartment\u201d Dorsey did not mention was the Strategic Response Team \u2013 Global Escalation Team, or SRT-GET, that operated above what journalist Bari Weiss described as \u201cofficial ticketing.\u201d That group\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/elon-musks-second-installment-twitter-files-reveals-secret-blacklists-bari-weiss-reports\">reportedly<\/a>\u00a0included Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust Vijaya Gadde, Global Head of Trust &amp; Safety Yoel Roth, subsequent CEOs Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal and others.<\/p>\n<p>Third, there\u2019s the growing question of\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/12\/05\/censorship-by-surrogate-why-musks-document-dump-could-be-a-game-changer\/\">censorship by surrogate<\/a>. The new documents suggest the effort to control political speech went far beyond the banning or suspending of particular figures. Those highly publicized controversies like\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/04\/15\/twitter-suspends-libsoftiktok-for-featuring-liberals-talking-about-themselves\/\">banning LibsofTikTok<\/a>\u00a0now appear to be the tip of a censorship iceberg with secret efforts to blacklist, throttle and suppress disfavored viewpoints.<\/p>\n<p>There were even \u201csearch blacklists\u201d to make it difficult for people to link to disfavored views. Those blacklisted may revive lawsuits alleging Twitter was acting as an agent of the government in manipulating public debates and discussions.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, legal ramifications will continue to be blunted by a media and administration that have overwhelmingly supported censorship. Liberal writers and officials have surrendered much in the last few years in supporting censorship and pushing\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2021\/01\/22\/why-burn-books-when-you-can-ban-them-writers-and-publishers-embrace-blacklisting-in-an-expanding-american-anti-free-speech-movement\/\">blacklists of conservative figures<\/a>, including\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/11\/03\/censoring-in-the-name-of-free-speech-publishers-and-editors-call-for-banning-barrett-book\/\">Supreme Court justices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Musk has forced citizens to take sides on the free-speech fight. He has both the public and free speech on his side. Not only are users signing up in record numbers, but a recent\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thetrafalgargroup.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/COSA-Twitter-Full-Report-1204.pdf\">poll<\/a>\u00a0shows a majority of Americans \u201csupport Elon Musk\u2019s ongoing efforts to change Twitter to a more free and transparent platform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The public is simply not buying the liberal narrative. What media figures once called \u201ca canard\u201d and a \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d is being exposed to full public view.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/warren.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Sen. Elizabeth Warren\" class=\"wp-image-24953143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/warren.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/warren.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/warren.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Sen. Elizabeth Warren<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Michael Dwyer\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>All the Orwellian euphemisms and cheery titles will no longer disguise Twitter\u2019s raw censorship. Once empowered by Agrawal to determine \u201cwho can be heard,\u201d Twitter executives showed how censorship can become an insatiable appetite for speech controls. Sitting in the San Francisco headquarters, the \u201cTrust\u201d officials found an array of conservative views unworthy to be heard. The \u201cfiltering\u201d of free speech quickly became a choice on what views are worthy of attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After all, if you cannot trust \u201cTrust\u201d professionals, who can you trust?<\/p>\n<p><em>Jonathan Turley is an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/09\/twitter-and-democrats-lied-about-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Twitter and Democrats lied about censorship&#8221; \u201c1984\u201d author George Orwell warned that \u201cif thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.\u201d\u00a0That line has never been more relevant than in the aftermath of the second release of Twitter documents this week. Many liberals had denied the social-media giant was engaging in censorship by using the more&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":523909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/newspress-collage-24952883-1670566943161.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1670549259&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[136985,32128,10701,77105,70867,991,10401],"class_list":["post-523908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-12-9-22","tag-censorship","tag-democrats","tag-elizabeth-warren","tag-hunter-biden","tag-joe-biden","tag-twitter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}