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On Monday, the latest installment of the Twitter Files was published, and some of the newly released documents show how members of both the Trump and Biden administrations allegedly applied pressure to Twitter on COVID-19 content moderation.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has provided journalists with internal materials from the company for the so-called Twitter Files. Previous installments included reports on how Twitter moderated content in relation to an article on the Hunter Biden laptop controversy, as well as on how it covered the decision to suspend former President Donald Trump's account.
Monday's report came via writer David Zweig and was published on Bari Weiss' website The Free Press. In his story, Zweig wrote that the Biden and Trump administrations "directly pressed Twitter executives to moderate the platform's pandemic content according to their wishes."
6. At the onset of the pandemic, according to meeting notes, the Trump admin was especially concerned about panic buying. They came looking for "help from the tech companies to combat misinformation" about "runs on grocery stores." But . . . there were runs on grocery stores. pic.twitter.com/duzk2I1Y7T
— David Zweig (@davidzweig) December 26, 2022
In a series of tweets that Zweig posted along with the Twitter Files' publication, he added that Michael Kratsios, who served as White House chief technology officer under Trump, had allegedly held meetings with Twitter and other tech companies to "combat misinformation" with regards to the pandemic.
One topic that concerned the Trump administration was "runs on grocery stores," Zweig wrote. He added, "The trouble is that it wasn't misinformation: There actually were runs on goods."
Prior to Zweig's report, Trump had praised the Twitter Files and once said one installment provided credence to his disproven claims about the 2020 presidential election being "stolen" from him.
On December 9, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that recent information released at that point had been a "revelation" in showing proof of how government agencies had been "illegally colluding" against him.
Trump also seemingly suggested that information contained in the Twitter Files in regard to possible involvement of the FBI in the Hunter Biden story moderation could provide reason for the U.S. Constitution to be canceled.
"So, with the revelation of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION?" Trump posted on Truth Social.
He added, "A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution."
After backlash for his post, including from members of the Republican Party, Trump said on Truth Social that he had never called for the Constitution to be terminated.
The Truth Social post wasn't the only instance of Trump praising the Twitter Files. Earlier this month, Rolling Stone wrote that a text sent out by the Trump campaign—which reportedly linked to Trump's reelection campaign—read: "BREAKING NEWS: President Trump was RIGHT! The Twitter files exposed FRAUD and CORRUPTION from Big Tech."
In his account, Zweig said that the Trump administration reached out to multiple tech giants about COVID information while the former leader was in office.
"It wasn't just Twitter. The meetings with the Trump White House were also attended by Google, Facebook, Microsoft and others," Zweig tweeted.
Much of Zweig's Twitter Files report detailed efforts by President Joe Biden's staff to curtail possible misinformation about the pandemic and vaccines. Zweig said the administration was "especially concerned" about journalist Alex Berenson, who was kicked off Twitter for violations of the platform's COVID-19 misinformation rules.
Berenson sued Twitter, which ended in the company settling with the journalist. He was allowed back on the platform, and Twitter was compelled to disclose internal communications that showed the White House had allegedly met with Twitter employees to discuss Berenson.
Zweig said that journalists were not the only ones subjected to moderation by Twitter—with and without alleged pressure from the government—for their views.
"Many medical and public health professionals who expressed perspectives or even cited findings from accredited academic journals that conflicted with official positions were also targeted," Zweig wrote in The Free Press. "As a result, legitimate findings and questions about our COVID policies and their consequences went missing."
Newsweek reached out to Trump, Twitter and the White House for comment.
About the writer
Jon Jackson is a News Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more