Elon Musk Targets the FBI as ‘Twitter Files’ Saga Continues

The FBI came under fire Friday after the latest “Twitter Files” report featured emails from the bureau regarding election misinformation shared on the platform.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has led the release of a stockpile of internal Twitter employees’ emails and other forms of company communication in an effort to be more transparent about the platform’s past decisions on monitoring content that goes against its policies.

In “part six” of the internal company review posted by journalist Matt Taibbi, past company emails revealed occasions when federal law enforcement alerted Twitter employees of accounts it believed to be in violation of the platform’s rules for disseminating false election information.

One example was from an email sent by the FBI’s National Election Command Post on November 5, which included 25 accounts that the department said “may warrant additional action due to the accounts being utilized to spread misinformation” regarding the 2022 midterm elections.

Three days later, a Twitter employee responded with a list of the accounts that were either permanently or temporarily suspended for policy violations, including “spam behaviors” and “excessive misinformation strikes,” the correspondence said. Other accounts also had tweets “bounced for civic misinformation policy violations.”

Screenshots of other emails show similar interactions between federal law enforcement and Twitter in 2020 and 2021. Taibbi also reported that officials from the Department of Homeland Security and state government officials also flagged tweets to the company.

The exterior of Twitter headquarters is shown on July 26, 2018, in San Francisco, California. FBI Director Christopher Wray, inset, speaks to the media at the bureau’s headquarters on June 14, 2018, in Washington, D.C. The “Twitter Files” report released Friday included emails from the bureau concerning election misinformation on the platform. Justin Sullivan/Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Federal law agencies have also come into question in past “Twitter Files” reports by Taibbi. According to screenshots of company Slack messages posted last week, former head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth met with the FBI on a regular basis to discuss efforts to combat misinformation on the platform, including shortly after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Shortly after Taibbi’s latest report, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz tweeted that the FBI “has a lot to answer for” and promised further questioning from himself and fellow GOP members of Congress.

“Clear your calendar,” Gaetz wrote.

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also thanked Musk for the report Friday, and tweeted that “Republicans will take this very seriously.”

In a separate post, Greene added that there should also be a review into the FBI’s actions with companies like Meta and Google to monitor misinformation.

“I’m really looking forward to Republican control, committee work, and subpoena power,” she wrote, alluding to the GOP-controlled House beginning in 2023.

Others criticized the FBI for monitoring Twitter rather than preventing other crimes, such as stopping mass shooters when suspects post plans on social media. The 18-year-old gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May had shared private messages on Facebook about his intentions to shoot up the school, reported The Texas Tribune.

“If only the FBI would focus more on stopping mass shootings than banning Trump2017847791 from Twitter,” wrote digital strategist Greg Price.

Ryan Saavedra, reporter at the conservative news website Daily Writer, tweeted: “Think of how many mass shootings have happened because the FBI dropped the ball on red flags that were brought to their attention about the assailants prior to the atrocities happening.”

Newsweek has reached out to the FBI for comment.