Bari Weiss releases “Twitter Files Part Two”, sharing images of accounts that Twitter allegedly put on “blacklists” and screenshots of internal Slack messages

Former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss released the second installment of the “Twitter Files” …

The Hill 2022-12-09 Julia Shapero

Context & Ripple Effects

The release follows Matt Taibbi’s [[a:985465|publication of internal records on Twitter’s 2020 handling of the New York Post laptop story]], extending the public dispute from a single editorial decision to the platform’s account-labeling and internal-review practices.

Twitter Trust and Safety VP Ella Irwin said she supplied the system screenshots and that reporters did not access user direct messages, placing the disclosure under company-controlled access rather than an unrestricted document release.

First-order effects

Twitter’s account-labeling practices and the internal Slack discussions shown by Weiss become objects of immediate public scrutiny, while the company must explain how those systems were used.
Irwin’s statement makes Twitter’s Trust and Safety leadership directly responsible for the provenance and limits of the material shared with Weiss.

Second-order effects

The sequence of document releases shifts attention from individual moderation calls to the internal tools and review processes that support them, increasing pressure on Twitter to characterize those systems publicly.
Taibbi and Weiss become central intermediaries for interpreting Twitter’s internal records, concentrating the debate around selected disclosures rather than ordinary platform communications.

Third-order effects

If this disclosure model persists, content-moderation disputes will increasingly be fought through curated releases of internal records, making control over document access part of platforms’ public-policy strategy.
The pattern points toward a more politicized view of trust-and-safety operations, where internal labels and escalation systems are treated as evidence in broader arguments over platform governance.

The trend: Platform-governance debates are moving from disputes over individual posts toward contests over the internal systems, records, and access controls behind moderation decisions.

Discussion

@bariweiss Bari Weiss on x
THREAD: THE TWITTER FILES PART TWO. TWITTER'S SECRET BLACKLISTS.
@bariweiss Bari Weiss on x
1. A new #TwitterFiles investigation reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics—all in secret, without informing users.
@ashleyfeinberg Ashley Feinberg on x
this has literally been on twitter's help page since at least 2018 https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@DavidSacks As @bariweiss clearly describes, the rules were enforced against the right, but not against the left
@whstancil Will Stancil on x
Bari Weiss is literally in the middle of a breathless “Twitter Files” thread describing Twitter implementing the exact policy that Elon Musk said he was going to institute three weeks ago. https://twitter.com/...
@bariweiss Bari Weiss on x
28. The authors have broad and expanding access to Twitter's files. The only condition we agreed to was that the material would first be published on Twitter.
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
So we've now had two long threads, presented as if they were revealing some big conspiracy, that basically, just... confirmed a bunch of things the company had already said publicly, and showed pretty standard (boring) trust & safety work. What a world.
@jeffreyasachs Jeffrey Sachs on x
“Our team”? https://twitter.com/...
@bradmossesq Bradley P. Moss on x
I look forward to the expose by the next owner of Twitter on how Elon cherry-picked this stuff. https://twitter.com/...
@libsoftiktok @libsoftiktok on x
This screenshot is current. Notice date on the right side. I'm still on a “trends blacklist.” When will this be fixed @elonmusk? https://twitter.com/...
@dbongino Dan Bongino on x
We ALWAYS knew we were a target of the Twitter suppression machine. ALWAYS. Yet liberals insisted it was another “conspiracy theory.” Tonight is vindication, yet I expect no apologies from liberals. They live to abuse power and they'll make no apologies for doing so.
@abigailshrier Abigail Shrier on x
Our team was given extensive, unfiltered access to Twitter's internal communication and systems. One of the things we wanted to know was whether Twitter systemically suppressed political speech. Here's what we found: https://twitter.com/...
@rep … Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 on x
Oversight is coming. https://twitter.com/...
@bariweiss Bari Weiss on x
12. The group that decided whether to limit the reach of certain users was the Strategic Response Team - Global Escalation Team, or SRT-GET. It often handled up to 200 “cases” a day.
@mattwalshblog Matt Walsh on x
Please give us every name and trending topic that was on the blacklist https://twitter.com/...
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@libsoftiktok You're welcome. Twitter won't be perfect in the future, but it will be *much* better.
@hodgetwins @hodgetwins on x
And I guarantee this same thing happens at Facebook, IG, YouTube, etc https://twitter.com/...
@david_j_roth David Roth on x
Savvy move by Musk here. Giving Bari Slack access has been proven to be one of the best ways to motivate employees to think about quitting. https://twitter.com/...
@normcharlatan Norm Charlatan on x
Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi are the white Diamond and Silk.
@junlper @junlper on x
this new twitter files thread is so funny when you realize elons musk current policy is exactly what this one is complaining about https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@mrandyngo @mrandyngo on x
Exclusive: Bari doesn't name too many names but the head of Twitter's Strategic Response Team when secret actions were taken to stifle conservative accounts happened under Jeff Carlton, who worked for both CIA & FBI. He just deleted his LinkedIn. But I have an archive. @elonmusk …
@timcast Tim Pool on x
this style of reporting is bad, the slow rolling of documents is bad they are drowning the potential for a big story by slow rolling it. This desensitizes people who gradually stop caring. https://twitter.com/...
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
just need to point out that apparently Bari Weiss does not know how to take screenshots? she's taking photos of her computer screen lol https://twitter.com/...
@bborrman Brandon on x
@ashleyfeinberg Why it's even the current guy's policy. https://twitter.com/...
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
Elon: I have a great new idea: we will diminish visibility of bad stuff. “No freedom of reach.” Bari Weiss: Look at how EVIL Twitter was: they limited the reach of some nonsense purveyors. Elon fans: OMG, thank you Elon for saving us!
@nickmartin Nick Martin on x
The biggest takeaway from that Bari Weiss thread is that Twitter spent years finding new and creative ways to keep large conservative and right-wing accounts on the site despite some pretty egregious behavior. But that was always obvious to anyone paying attention.
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
these guys don't seem to understand that Elon Musk owns Twitter now. those former Twitter employees aren't legally responsible for this stuff. if you want to sue someone over the Twitter Files...your lawsuit would be against Twitter and Elon Musk lol https://twitter.com/...
@jason @jason on x
On top of all this twitter leadership claimed it wasn't happening, which is just peak gaslighting Social networks need to be transparent and fair in policing their services, letting Americans make their own decisions on who to follow or block.
@tomscocca Tom Scocca on x
I don't understand what L*bs of T*ktok was doing wrong, also I had to quit the New York Times because my coworkers used mean emoji, or at least it felt to me like they were using mean emoji
@ashleyfeinberg Ashley Feinberg on x
lmao “secret group”—you're telling me the company's highest-ranking people would talk to each other before making decisions that could have particularly sensitive consequences?? and they didn't inform ME about it?? https://twitter.com/...
@maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x
As expected “Twitter Files 2” is drivel. This supposedly damning evidence is from yesterday. Literally “2022-12-07,” over a month after Musk took over. Who knows what it was like before—but they currently get preferential treatment, the “SIP-PES” consult before action is taken. h…
@eliothiggins Eliot Higgins on x
Elon is going to have so much fun explaining to EU why Twitter shouldn't be regulated after all this. https://twitter.com/...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Was it not Alexander Hamilton who said all tweets MUST be amplified under the little known 56th amendment that this Meta/Facebook board member is apparently and darkly referring to? https://twitter.com/...
@karengeier @karengeier on x
What am I supposed to be outraged at by that twitter files thing? Is it that they have a moderation policy? Is it that the examples were cherry picked and did not include anyone who was moderated for their leftist views? Is it that Bari Weiss doesn't know how to take screenshots?
@mehdirhasan Mehdi Hasan on x
This entire thread from Weiss, and supposed exposé on Twitter's ‘secret blacklists,’ is exactly what @elonmusk says his current content moderation policy for Twitter is! https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@hawleymo Josh Hawley on x
Yet how many times did I hear @jack say, including to Congress, that Twitter never targeted conservatives. And how many “reporters” repeated this lie over and over and over and over https://twitter.com/...
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
we actually did learn something from Twitter Files 2: 1) Libs of TikTok received special treatment from Twitter, regular mods weren't allowed to take action on her account 2) Libs of TikTok was doxed under owner Elon Musk, the tweet was allowed to stay up https://twitter.com/...
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
Randomly: kudos to (former?) security folks at Twitter who apparently put in place (built?) a system so that people with access to high level, extremely powerful tools (e.g. to look at other people's DMs) have watermarks on their screens in case someone, you know, takes a photo.
@tedlieu Ted Lieu on x
This post by @elonmusk assumes the right and the left are somehow the same. We are not. Folks on the right said COVID was a hoax. Folks on the left said it was not. Twitter absolutely had the right to enforce rules against COVID deniers, who were disproportionally on the right. h…
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
I discovered this secret document (the publicly available terms of service) that says Twitter sometimes limits the distribution or visibility of content. https://twitter.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
Well, I finally got a response to my proposal that Musk address his concern for political interference by publishing a database of moderation actions and communications with government actors. I just literally don't know what it means. Proposal: https://twitter.com/... https://tw…
@kimdotcom Kim Dotcom on x
🧵 Twitter files Part 2 🧵 Here are my views about the recent revelations. First of all I'm glad this information is now available to the public and I'm angry because of what was done to censor and control public discourse about important issues like corruption and Govt crimes.
@cernovich @cernovich on x
Rolling out these twitter files in waves is exactly the way to do it.
@ericfrohnhoefer @ericfrohnhoefer on x
“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.” - @elonmusk 😱 OMG Twitter was already doing that shame on them. A whole lot of nothing once again. https://twitter.com/...
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
What? Bari Weiss misrepresenting stuff to fanboys to make a big conspiracy out of something that is clearly not a big conspiracy? How... not surprising. https://twitter.com/...
@radleybalko Radley Balko on x
The Twitter Files is a good lesson in how you can report out the goings on of any decent sized organization, and if you use the right tone, cite “documents,” and make it seem like you're breaking news, you can make even the most mundane shit seem scandalous to the right audience.
@jason @jason on x
The problem with these enforcements is threefold: 1. There was no transparency, 2 they were not evenly enforced, & 3. Shadow-banning/search banning feels underhanded (just block folks & say why). Citizens should block & mute who they want in my opinion — not the Stasi. https://tw…
@theplumlinegs Greg Sargent on x
Yeah, the level of grift here is just stunning, but the problem is that tweeting debunkings also fuels the grift. https://twitter.com/...
@edburmila Ed Burmila on x
The replies to every tweet about Elon Musk offer valuable insight into how Jonestown happened https://twitter.com/...
@kt_so_it_goes @kt_so_it_goes on x
it's me. I'm the twitter files lady. I used to do other real weird shit until I saw taibbi & greenwald & said hey I gotta get in on that action. I'm the twitter files lady now. soon I'll be posting their sewer bill saying HMMM MAKES YOU THINK. anyway. I'm the twitter files lady. …
@robferdman Roberto Aram Ferdman on x
The Twitter Files are one of the best examples out there of why editors are so important in journalism
@davidsacks David Sacks on x
New narrative: they weren't shadowbanning political opponents. They were just enforcing the spam policy. https://twitter.com/...
@goldman Jason Goldman on x
She's uncovered the scandal of {reduce remove inform} as the triad of content moderation that's existed since these features launched. Even Elon says there is no freedom of reach. This is just winding up a thirsty audience who will swallow sand to feel heated by conspiracy. https…
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Btw, yes, it is dripping with irony that this dude who sits atop a fortune built on OPD (other people's data) used by Facebook — KGB to Twitter's Stasi in his labored and historically ignorant metaphor — is typing this kind of dark nonsense.
@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
@bariweiss @libsoftiktok Former head of censorship at Twitter was perhaps not entirely unbiased ... https://twitter.com/...
@jamesmelville James Melville on x
What the latest #TwitterFiles prove is that many influential accounts who questioned lockdowns were suppressed and many pro-lockdown influencers were amplified - often to vilify and orchestrate pile ons against those who were suppressed. Musk has unearthed this rather grim truth.
@mattbinder Matt Binder on x
wait what? November 21, 2022? you mean this happened when Elon Musk was running the platform? https://twitter.com/...
@jeremylittau Jeremy Littau on x
I guess it's Galaxy Brain Variety Hour again on the bird app. The. New. Owner. Said. In. November. He. Would. Do. The. Same. Thing. You. Think. Is. A. Scandal. https://twitter.com/...
@kylenabecker Kyle Becker on x
This was the Twitter CEO before @ElonMusk misleading users by telling them “we don't shadowban.” #TwitterFiles https://twitter.com/...
@goldman Jason Goldman on x
Literally the only thing Elon has managed to launch is a gamergate retread
@billym2k Shibetoshi Nakamoto on x
it'll be interesting when some people learn they aren't actually shadowbanned, it's just that they don't say anything worth reading

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