151 Alabama RW religious leader - Ralph Lee Aaron - child molesting 152 NV Governor Jim Gibbons - accused of assaulting a woman, settled a civil suit 153 PA GOP Congressman Don Sherwood - not for having an affair, but for assaulting and choking the woman he had an affair with 154 Republican Judge Mark Fuller - domestic violence 155 GOP Rep Trent Franks - harassment of his office staff - to serve as a surrogate for him and his wife, this makes me feel sad, actually 156 GOP Congressional aide Matthew Pennell - child molesting plea deal to 2 or 17 charges 157 GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain - sexual harassment 158 Tennessee GOP state rep Scott DesJarlais - OK, these are consensual affairs, but with PATIENTS!!!! 159 GOP Rep John Schmitz - John Birch Society member had two families (one he did not support) - and obviously there was some sickness going on because one of his daughters is Mary Kay LeTourneau the child-raping teacher. 160 California GOP Rep Ernie Konnyu - sexual harassment 161 Styles Bridges - R-MA - This man was filth. He extorted Dem Sen Hunt of WY that he would reveal his son’s homosexuality unless Hunt resigned so the R’s could get his seat. Hunt refused, but then killed himself. This headline is from a citizen’s jury, not a real one 162 Joe McCarthy, R-WI, started the Lavender Scare, a purge of gays from government. Many other Republicans joined in. Technically not a crime, but surely an immoral act 163 Pastor Roy D. Bolden, Providence RI GOP Chair child molestation and sexual assault 164 Ron P Broussard, Jr of TRUMP UNIVERSITY - sex with 8-year-old 165 Republican state senate candidate Sherman Lee Criner - molesting a 6-year-old girl. Prosecutors used an unusual standard of enough evidence to convict rather than probable cause, possibly because he is a popular lawyer. NOT CLEARED, just not indicted 166 Wenatchee Republican Michael T McCourt molested children for 30 years behind a civic front as a utilities commissioner, political operative and community volunteer, Then asked judge for leniency because of all his community activism 167 Unsuccessful Republican candidate William C Mach - child molestation. Ironically, he ran on a campaign to fight child molestation and was endorsed by related organizations 168 Republican Sheriff Perry Grogan continued to campaign despite indictment for child molestation, probably because of disgraceful coverage like this in the screenshot. He was convicted. 169 Republican campaign consultant and Baptist pastor Kenneth Adkins - child molestation. By the way, he said Pulse victims got what they deserved. So should he. 170 GOP candidate for OH legislature James E. Dutschke = child molestation, also investigated for ricin letters to Obama 171 Brian O'Toole, Republican Sunnyvale mayor convicted of child molestation. See screenshot as the newspaper is on NewsBank, accessible with some library cards, but not for everyone. 172 Last month Indianapolis Republican City Councilman Jeff Miller resigned/plea deal for child molestion 173 While Douglas Marks was a teacher, he was probably able to abuse two generations of children because of his wealthy Republican family. His brother was Speaker of the House. 174 Vermont Republican state senator Norman McAllister who's one of the Legislature's most outspoken conservatives charged with sexual assault, human trafficking, and prohibited acts. Made a plea deal 175 SC Rep Chris Corley - domestic violence
1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES 2. What you’re about to read is the first installment in a series, based upon thousands of internal documents obtained by sources at Twitter. 3. The “Twitter Files” tell an incredible story from inside one of the world’s largest and most influential social media platforms. It is a Frankensteinian tale of a human-built mechanism grown out the control of its designer. 4. Twitter in its conception was a brilliant tool for enabling instant mass communication, making a true real-time global conversation possible for the first time. 5. In an early conception, Twitter more than lived up to its mission statement, giving people “the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.” 6. As time progressed, however, the company was slowly forced to add those barriers. Some of the first tools for controlling speech were designed to combat the likes of spam and financial fraudsters. 7. Slowly, over time, Twitter staff and executives began to find more and more uses for these tools. Outsiders began petitioning the company to manipulate speech as well: first a little, then more often, then constantly. 8. By 2020, requests from connected actors to delete tweets were routine. One executive would write to another: “More to review from the Biden team.” The reply would come back: “Handled.” 9. Celebrities and unknowns alike could be removed or reviewed at the behest of a political party: 10.Both parties had access to these tools. For instance, in 2020, requests from both the Trump White House and the Biden campaign were received and honored. However: 11. This system wasn't balanced. It was based on contacts. Because Twitter was and is overwhelmingly staffed by people of one political orientation, there were more channels, more ways to complain, open to the left (well, Democrats) than the right. https://t.co/sa1uVRNhuH 12. The resulting slant in content moderation decisions is visible in the documents you’re about to read. However, it’s also the assessment of multiple current and former high-level executives. Okay, there was more throat-clearing about the process, but screw it, let's jump forward 16. The Twitter Files, Part One: How and Why Twitter Blocked the Hunter Biden Laptop Story 17. On October 14, 2020, the New York Post published BIDEN SECRET EMAILS, an expose based on the contents of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop: 18. Twitter took extraordinary steps to suppress the story, removing links and posting warnings that it may be “unsafe.” They even blocked its transmission via direct message, a tool hitherto reserved for extreme cases, e.g. child p*rnography. 19. White House spokeswoman Kaleigh McEnany was locked out of her account for tweeting about the story, prompting a furious letter from Trump campaign staffer Mike Hahn, who seethed: “At least pretend to care for the next 20 days.” 20.This led public policy executive Caroline Strom to send out a polite WTF query. Several employees noted that there was tension between the comms/policy teams, who had little/less control over moderation, and the safety/trust teams: 21. Strom’s note returned the answer that the laptop story had been removed for violation of the company’s “hacked materials” policy: https://t.co/EdTa2xbXn1 22. Although several sources recalled hearing about a “general” warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks, there’s no evidence - that I've seen - of any government involvement in the laptop story. In fact, that might have been the problem... 23. The decision was made at the highest levels of the company, but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, with former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde playing a key role. 24. “They just freelanced it,” is how one former employee characterized the decision. “Hacking was the excuse, but within a few hours, pretty much everyone realized that wasn’t going to hold. But no one had the guts to reverse it.” 25.You can see the confusion in the following lengthy exchange, which ends up including Gadde and former Trust and safety chief Yoel Roth. Comms official Trenton Kennedy writes, “I'm struggling to understand the policy basis for marking this as unsafe”: 26. By this point “everyone knew this was ****ed,” said one former employee, but the response was essentially to err on the side of… continuing to err. 27. Former VP of Global Comms Brandon Borrman asks, “Can we truthfully claim that this is part of the policy?” 28. To which former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker again seems to advise staying the non-course, because “caution is warranted”: 29. A fundamental problem with tech companies and content moderation: many people in charge of speech know/care little about speech, and have to be told the basics by outsiders. To wit: 30. In one humorous exchange on day 1, Democratic congressman Ro Khanna reaches out to Gadde to gently suggest she hop on the phone to talk about the “backlash re speech.” Khanna was the only Democratic official I could find in the files who expressed concern. Gadde replies quickly, immediately diving into the weeds of Twitter policy, unaware Khanna is more worried about the Bill of Rights: 32.Khanna tries to reroute the conversation to the First Amendment, mention of which is generally hard to find in the files: 33.Within a day, head of Public Policy Lauren Culbertson receives a ghastly letter/report from Carl Szabo of the research firm NetChoice, which had already polled 12 members of congress – 9 Rs and 3 Democrats, from “the House Judiciary Committee to Rep. Judy Chu’s office.” 34.NetChoice lets Twitter know a “blood bath” awaits in upcoming Hill hearings, with members saying it's a "tipping point," complaining tech has “grown so big that they can’t even regulate themselves, so government may need to intervene.” 35.Szabo reports to Twitter that some Hill figures are characterizing the laptop story as “tech’s Access Hollywood moment”: 36.Twitter files continued: "THE FIRST AMENDMENT ISN’T ABSOLUTE” Szabo’s letter contains chilling passages relaying Democratic lawmakers’ attitudes. They want “more” moderation, and as for the Bill of Rights, it's "not absolute" An amazing subplot of the Twitter/Hunter Biden laptop affair was how much was done without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, and how long it took for the situation to get "un****ed" (as one ex-employee put it) even after Dorsey jumped in. While reviewing Gadde's emails, I saw a familiar name - my own. Dorsey sent her a copy of my Substack article blasting the incident There are multiple instances in the files of Dorsey intervening to question suspensions and other moderation actions, for accounts across the political spectrum. The problem with the "hacked materials" ruling, several sources said, was that this normally required an official/law enforcement finding of a hack. But such a finding never appears throughout what one executive describes as a "whirlwind" 24-hour, company-wide mess. It's been a whirlwind 96 hours for me, too. There is much more to come, including answers to questions about issues like shadow-banning, boosting, follower counts, the fate of various individual accounts, and more. These issues are not limited to the political right.
I don’t quite understand what Taibbi is saying here. Hunter Biden’s personal data was taken from his laptop without his consent and published online. How is disseminating links to that personal data not a violation of his personal privacy? I can easily see the argument that the hacked data policy would apply here.
So, no gov involvement but just a general warning, as have been reported before. "22. Although several sources recalled hearing about a “general” warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks, there’s no evidence - that I've seen - of any government involvement in the laptop story. In fact, that might have been the problem..."
176 Gordon Blake, a CA political activist who twice ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination to the state legislature - child molesting, sentenced to 194 years. 177 Darrell Gilyard, Jerry Falwell protege, must really be some preacher, convicted of child molestation, on parole and back in the pulpit. So they ban children from the church 178 Conservative Baptist minister Matt Baker murdered his wife 179 Richmond County Republican Party official Brett Bennie Langham was indicted for child molestation. 180 FOX News Latino VP, Francisco Cortes - sexual harassment 181 Eric Bolling, formerly FOX News - sexual harassment 182 Kimberley Guilfoyle - FOX NEws - sexual harassment 183 David Garland, President of rightwing Baptist Baylor University, covered up rapes, said women willingly became victims. 184 Political hack and professional hypocrite Ken Starr covered up rapes while Chancellor at Baylor 185 Stephen Dalton Baril just got not jail time even though he took a plea for rape, perhaps because his grandfather was John Dalton, a former governor, and his father Steve Baril ran for Attorney General. 186 Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis, Republican, indicted for rape, stalking, obstruction 187 AZ State Rep Don Shooter, sexual harassment 188 While Oklahoma Republican representative George Faught did not commit rape and incest (as far as I know) he said it’s all part of God's will, so he joins the list of rape enablers. 189 Connecticut Republican politician Christopher von Keyserling was arrested and charged with sexual assault. Trump’s his role model. He said it, not me. 190 Bob Jones University Blamed Victims, not Abusers 191 Rhode Island state Sen. Nicholas Kettle, a 27-year-old Coventry Republican, of twice coercing a Senate student page to have sex with him 192 Milo Yiannopolous defended pedophilia, saying older men can show younger men who they are 193 Caleb Bailey, Trump delegate - child p*rnography 194 Paul Travis Williams, former Lumpkin Co GOP Chair, child p*rnography 195 Bishop Raymond Burke of Missouri said John Kerry should not get communion, excommunicated all sorts of people, but not pedophile priests 196 CJ Maheney covered up sexual abuse in his churches 197 Megachurch pastor Bob Coy raped and molested a girl from age 4 until she was 14 and his Republican pals helped cover it up, sealing his divorce file, not investigating the complaint 198 Baptist Megachurch Pastor Matt Chandler punished a woman for divorcing her pedophile husband. Did not punish the husband. 199 AZ GOP State Sen. Scott Bundegaard - domestic violence, not arrested at the time because cops believed him when he said he had immunity while House was in session 200 Judge Mark Fuller - domestic violence
Okay, to be fair, read through the Taibbi tweet storm, and as expected, its not very interesting. Reminds me quite a bit of where I work, where a company has an "issue" and there is no process to handle it, so it gets kicked around to different people to see if anyone wants to own it, it landed wherever it landed, whoever made a call, and that was pretty much it. It blows up, higher ups get involved, and fall into the same trap of not having a process, so its gets butter fingered around some more. No real scandal, just typical big business process BS, that just happens to be a triggering event for the snowflakes on the right. As Taibbi notes, the actual story is a nothing burger. Much like the Durham investigation its good to finally have the real story and confirming no big scandal.
Looks like I misunderstood the meaning of this part during the live tweeting: “22. Although several sources recalled hearing about a “general” warning from federal law enforcement that summer about possible foreign hacks, there’s no evidence - that I've seen - of any government involvement in the laptop story. In fact, that might have been the problem...” I think he’s saying there’s no evidence that governments were involved in leaking Hunter Biden story. I initially read it as meaning there’s no evidence that government was involved in Twitter’s actions to suppress the story. Though, at least so far, that evidence if it exists hasn’t yet been revealed.
It shows the difficulty of making these decisions (and you can sense the responsibility and heaviness of how it may impact speech vs election interference - ref 2016 and impact on Twitter).
I like Khanna, and I’m glad to see him take what appears to be a balanced and principled stance here behind the scenes.
https://nypost.com/2022/12/02/elon-musk-releases-twitters-files-on-censorship-of-post/ https://www.foxnews.com/media/elon-musk-reveals-twitter-suppressing-hunter-biden-story-2020 CNN completely ignoring the story...
You can read it both ways. The US gov provides a general warning (reported before). The US gov didn't mention the laptop story (also reported before).
I'm grunching this thread, so apologies, but that's modern interpretation of the 1st Amendment (50+ years or so). CNN, Fox, Twitter, Facebook, Google, NYT, NYP...they all have 1st amendment rights in regards to what to publish/display/promote/suppress. No government, public voice, nor other individual can control those decisions, unless you decide to buy the company.
Whenever clutch bans someone the argument is that it's clutch site and he can do what he wants. How is this different? Are website owners not allowed to moderate as they see fit?
