by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D. at childrenshealthdefense.org
The latest “Twitter files,” published Thursday by investigative journalist Matt Taibbi reveal how the federal government weaponized private companies, taxpayer-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) — and even commercial news media — to target social media accounts disseminating content that ran counter to official narratives.
The files — dubbed the “Censorship-Industrial Complex” — confirm that the U.S. government sought, indirectly and via private intermediaries, to have “misinformation,” “disinformation” and “malinformation” removed from Twitter and other social media platforms.
The revelations revealed how NGOs, working with the federal government, sought to censor social media content about COVID-19 vaccine injuries that was truthful, on the basis that it encouraged “vaccine hesitancy.”
These revelations came on the same day that the U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government heard testimony about the revelations contained within the “Twitter files.”
Taibbi testified at Thursday’s hearing, as did author Michael Shellenberger, who has contributed to prior “Twitter files” releases.
Private actors, including media, sought removal of ‘true’ content
According to Taibbi, the bulk of censorship requests didn’t come directly from the government, but rather through a wide array of non-governmental actors who “partnered” with Twitter.
This “Censorship-Industrial Complex,” said Taibbi, included NGOs and “an unexpectedly aggressive partner, commercial news media,” which worked together with “state agencies like DHS [U.S. Department of Homeland Security], FBI, or the Global Engagement Center (GEC)” — an arm of the U.S. State Department.