Matt Taibbi slams Democrats for 'comically inept' attacks in Twitter Files hearing
Journalist Matt Taibbi joined 'The Brian Kilmeade Show' to discuss his testimony before Congress and his key takeaways from what the Twitter Files revealed.
The latest Twitter Files uncovered the FBI requesting the social media company to censor accounts accused of spreading misinformation about the Ukraine-Russia war and collect their personal information.
A special agent from the FBI reached out to Twitter with a list of accounts according to The Grayzone News host Aaron Maté, who reported on the latest Twitter Files.
"The FBI is helping Ukraine censor Twitter users, including journalists," Maté reported. "The FBI aided a Ukrainian intelligence effort to ban Twitter users and collect their data. Twitter declined to censor journalists targeted by Ukraine."
Maté was included on the list of accounts.
The Ukrainian government has reportedly "blacklisted" several Americans as "pro-Russian" propagandists. (iStock)
FBI Special Agent Aleksandr Kobzanets, the assistant legal attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, reportedly contacted a pair of Twitter executives in March 2022 on behalf of Ukraine’s intelligence agency, the SBU.
The agent reportedly sent a list of 163 Twitter accounts, stating that "These accounts are suspected by the SBU in spreading fear and disinformation."
Along with the list of accounts, the agent also reportedly forwarded a request from Ukraine’s SBU, which said, "we kindly ask you to take urgent measures to block these Twitter accounts and provide us with user data specified during registration."
However, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s Head of Trust and Safety at the time, responded to the FBI about how they would check the authenticity of some of the accounts listed, but he shared concerns with censoring American and Canadian journalists.
"In an initial look, they do appear to be a mix of individual accounts (that may or may not be authentic), some official Russian accounts (including state media accounts which are already labeled under our policies), and even a few accounts of American and Canadian journalists (e.g. Aaron Mate)," Roth wrote.
"Our reviews are going to focus first and foremost on identifying any potential inauthenticity," he continued. "In general, though, authentic news outlets and reporters who cover the conflict with a pro-Russian stance are unlikely to be found in violation of our rules absent other context that might establish some kind of convert/deceptive association between them and a government."
PURPORTED FBI DOCUMENT SUGGESTS AGENCY MAY BE TARGETING CATHOLICS WHO ATTEND LATIN MASS
Maté suggested this is not the first time the FBI has been accused of requesting a major tech platform censor users on its behalf.
"News of the FBI’s work with Ukrainian intelligence to censor Twitter users also follows reporting from journalist Lee Fang that the FBI has pressured Facebook to remove accounts and posts deemed by the SBU to be Russian ‘disinformation,’" Maté wrote. "According to Fang, a senior Ukrainian official in regular contact with the FBI defined ‘disinformation’ in such broad terms that it could mean viewpoints that ‘simply contradict the Ukrainian government’s narrative.’"
When reached for comment, the FBI said they do not confirm, deny, or otherwise comment on specific interactions nor confirm the veracity of correspondence.
The FBI has come under increasing scrutiny over the past year, as many argue it has been politicized. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Matt Taibbi said the latest revelation about Ukraine and the FBI requesting censorship from Twitter was one of the most disturbing revelations thus far from the Twitter Files. Taibbi has reported on several Twitter Files stories in the past.
"Of all the #TwitterFiles stories, this one is perhaps the most damning about the FBI, showing that it is willing to help a foreign government try to suppress a prominent Western journalist," Taibbi wrote. "It's outrageous and provides further evidence the FBI is out of control."
Joseph Vazquez of the Media Research Center spoke to Fox News Digital about how this scandal indicates both government sponsored censorship and foreign influence are at play.
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"The latest batch of Twitter files show that the censorious cabal running the FBI is not only willing to pursue censorship on behalf of its own leftist political interests, but also on behalf of foreign governments," Vazquez said. "The institution has been shown beyond all reasonable doubt to have been corrupted beyond repair."
He continued, "The fact that a foreign government was working with the FBI to communicate with Twitter in order to censor Americans and journalists just makes the whole issue of Big Tech-Government censorship ten times worse. Whoever was responsible for this needs to be dragged in front of Congress and put on display for all Americans to see. If this doesn't fit the textbook definition of foreign collusion, I don't know what does."
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