Hey Elon, imma let you finish but Trump said it better. pic.twitter.com/7ROdZMolYK

— NautPoso 🇮🇪☘️ (@NautPoso) December 3, 2022

What really happened with the Hunter Biden story suppression by Twitter will be published on Twitter at 5pm ET!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022

1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022

1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022

3. The “Twitter Files” tell an incredible story from inside one of the world’s largest and most influential social media platforms. It is a Frankensteinian tale of a human-built mechanism grown out the control of its designer.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022

5. In an early conception, Twitter more than lived up to its mission statement, giving people “the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.”

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022

7. Slowly, over time, Twitter staff and executives began to find more and more uses for these tools. Outsiders began petitioning the company to manipulate speech as well: first a little, then more often, then constantly.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022

9. Celebrities and unknowns alike could be removed or reviewed at the behest of a political party: pic.twitter.com/4uzkHnQ65E

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022

11. This system wasn't balanced. It was based on contacts. Because Twitter was and is overwhelmingly staffed by people of one political orientation, there were more channels, more ways to complain, open to the left (well, Democrats) than the right. https://t.co/sa1uVRNhuH pic.twitter.com/K1xmqQ0TrD

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

Okay, there was more throat-clearing about the process, but screw it, let's jump forward

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

17. On October 14, 2020, the New York Post published BIDEN SECRET EMAILS, an expose based on the contents of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop: https://t.co/q4zaMw6aVV

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

19. White House spokeswoman Kaleigh McEnany was locked out of her account for tweeting about the story, prompting a furious letter from Trump campaign staffer Mike Hahn, who seethed: “At least pretend to care for the next 20 days.” pic.twitter.com/CcXTfsdzCT

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

21. Strom’s note returned the answer that the laptop story had been removed for violation of the company’s “hacked materials” policy: https://t.co/EdTa2xbXn1 pic.twitter.com/KQFRiKYKkb

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

23. The decision was made at the highest levels of the company, but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, with former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde playing a key role.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

https://t.co/j4EeXEAw6F can see the confusion in the following lengthy exchange, which ends up including Gadde and former Trust and safety chief Yoel Roth. Comms official Trenton Kennedy writes, “I'm struggling to understand the policy basis for marking this as unsafe”: pic.twitter.com/w1wBMlG33U

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

27. Former VP of Global Comms Brandon Borrman asks, “Can we truthfully claim that this is part of the policy?” pic.twitter.com/Rh5HL8prOZ

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

29. A fundamental problem with tech companies and content moderation: many people in charge of speech know/care little about speech, and have to be told the basics by outsiders. To wit:

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

Gadde replies quickly, immediately diving into the weeds of Twitter policy, unaware Khanna is more worried about the Bill of Rights: pic.twitter.com/U4FRLYYPaY

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

33.Within a day, head of Public Policy Lauren Culbertson receives a ghastly letter/report from Carl Szabo of the research firm NetChoice, which had already polled 12 members of congress – 9 Rs and 3 Democrats, from “the House Judiciary Committee to Rep. Judy Chu’s office.” pic.twitter.com/UpBoq97QkB

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

The problem with the "hacked materials" ruling, several sources said, was that this normally required an official/law enforcement finding of a hack. But such a finding never appears throughout what one executive describes as a "whirlwind" 24-hour, company-wide mess. pic.twitter.com/aONKCROEOd

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

Good night, everyone. Thanks to all those who picked up the phone in the last few days.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022

.@RealJamesWoods tells Tucker Carlson that he will be suing the DNC following the bombshell revelations regarding Twitter’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

Read more: https://t.co/meBInrZRHE pic.twitter.com/aygncjmShL

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 3, 2022