UNITED STATES—Files containing incriminating information involving the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the crosshairs between Twitter and those banned from using their platform were released on Monday, December 19 related to the 2020 Presidential election.

The FBI pushed Twitter executives to remove information that would weaken the Democratic party. On December 16, author and former contributing editor of the Rolling Stones, Matt Taibbi tweeted, “3 Twitter’s contact with the FBI was constant, and pervasive as if it were a subsidiary. 4 between January 2020 and November 2022, there were over 150 emails between the FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety Chief, Yoel Roth.” 

The FBI pushed Twitter executives to remove tweets that were meant to be jokes made by accounts with a low number of followers. 

The media is underreporting details on the files. As many as 80 FBI agents were reportedly tasked with monitoring Twitter.

According to Taibbi, on November 5, 2022, a message from the FBI’s National Command Post from the SF Field office with a long list of accounts the FBI noted, “may warrant additional action.”

@Dartful, @DrAndrewJackson, @DanDuryeas, @2020_mtb, @JeanneGary13, @RSBNetwork, @Davidkloy, @Ronsmit49336969, @AScottHoneycut, @lexitollah, @Tiboron11, @wisefrog57, @hsfboatr5, @chriswest567, @Trump2017847791, @kag2020_2024, @Tiberius444, @BillyBaldwin, @chrisfig33ad, @michaelp4283, @BrettBarker22, @EPaul9, @warrenintronno, were the 25 Twitter accounts tagged by an FBI employee who signed his correspondence with, ‘Michael.’

According to Bari Weiss of the Free Press, “Twitter staff assigned to evaluate tweets quickly concluded that Trump had not violated Twitter’s policies.”

Former Twitter owner, Jack Dorsey testified under oath that, “Twitter does not censor or shadow ban conservatives.”

“I think we’d have a hard time saying this is incitement It’s pretty clear he’s saying the ‘American Patriots’ are the ones who voted for him and not the terrorists (we can call them that, right?) from Wednesday. Don’t see the incitement angle here,” a staffer told Weiss. 

According to reports, the FBI and members of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, federal law enforcement, and government officials had screenshots taken of their tweets between them and Twitter, raising questions about Twitter’s censorship.

On Monday, December 19, the United States House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol held a press conference announcing the referral of potential criminal charges to the United States Justice Department against former President Donald Trump.