Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) frequently wrote Twitter requesting specific tweet removals, including a parody photo of Joe Biden. After President Trump retweeted the parody photo, The DNC made the same request to remove it. Twitter refused to remove the photo, citing it had “humorous intent.” Schiff’s office also requested content bans about Schiff and his staff, but Twitter refused, stating it would not be “conceivable.” Twitter also “deamplified” accounts related to QAnon, but Schiff’s office remained concerned that this would create difficulties for law enforcement to track these “offending Tweeters.”
1.TWITTER FILES: Supplemental
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
More Adam Schiff Ban Requests,
and “Deamplification”
2.Staff of House Democrat @AdamSchiff wrote to Twitter quite often, asking that tweets be taken down. This important use of taxpayer resources involved an ask about a “Peter Douche” parody photo of Joe Biden. The DNC made the same request: https://t.co/fM2Y2jxVKw pic.twitter.com/LIQMbns1B0
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
3.The real issue was Donald Trump retweeted the Biden pic. To its credit Twitter refused to remove it, with Trust and Safety chief Yoel Roth saying it had obvious “humorous intent” and “any reasonable observer” – apparently, not a Schiff staffer – could see it was doctored. pic.twitter.com/QJtS6s506Z
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
4.Schiff staffer Jeff Lowenstein didn’t give up, claiming there was a “slippery slope concern here.” pic.twitter.com/qM1cJiZLFh
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
5.Twitter also refused requests for bans of content about Schiff and his staff, e.g. “complete suppress[ion of] any and all search results about Mr. Misko and other Committee staffers.” Twitter said this would not be “conceivable.” pic.twitter.com/2HQrmp4fnY
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
6.Even when Twitter didn’t suspend an account, that didn’t mean they didn’t act. Schiff’s office repeatedly complained about “QAnon related activity” that were often tweets about other matters, like the identity of the Ukraine “whistleblower” or the Steele dossier: pic.twitter.com/XKzY8AmB5R
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
7.Twitter policy at the time didn’t ban QAnon, but “deamplified” such accounts. About the batch of tweets that included those above, Twitter execs wrote: “We can internally confirm that a number of the accounts flagged are already included in this deamplification.” pic.twitter.com/IWss2BoUKx
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
8.Schiff’s office had a concern about “deamplification,” though: it might make it harder for law enforcement to track the offending Tweeters.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
9.“WE APPRECIATE GREATLY”
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
“We are curious whether any deamplification measures implemented by Twitter’s enforcement team – which we appreciate greatly – could… impede the ability of law enforcement to search Twitter for potential threats about Misko and other HPSCI staff.” pic.twitter.com/h7TRauK6j5
10.For more, watch @ShellenbergerMD, @BariWeiss, @LHFang, @DavidZweig, @AlexBerenson, and others.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023
Twitter had no editorial input. Searches were carried out by third parties, so the documents could be limited.
