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The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

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Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#181

Post by MarkPNeyer »

barnabee wrote: post #118
quacked wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A well-armed and informed populace governing itself" is a pipe dream by indigenous uncontacted people and certain very intelligent dissenters. The majority of "civilized" people in the world are very happy to live in an authoritarian information-sanitized nation so long as the people in power cater to their own in-group.

I’d like to think this site of all places might be populated with very intermittent dissenters willing to be or at least support activists trying to change that, with the internet and technology as their tool. It’s always jarring to discover the extent to which it’s not.

Bitcoin is people striving for financial self sovereignty.

“Crypto” is a bunch of people trying to get rich using some cool new technology they nobody understands.

See how much bigger the second is than the first.

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#182

Post by Romanulus »

antiterra wrote: post #125
mef wrote: post #9

I’ve been trying to read these Twitter files threads thoughtfully, and maybe it’s just a sign of the current average level of comfort with government involvement with social media platforms, but I’m generally not seeing much issue with the stuff being revealed. the worst thing about this particular thread seems like the govt agencies talking to Twitter about foreign influence are overreaching a bit (eg asking them to…

I am someone who didn’t see anything seriously objectionable in the Twitter files, but I do think it raised some questions worth thinking about. If the FBI messages you and says ‘hey… review this content and see if it’s violating your own policies,’ is that inherently an innocent request? I could see a world where ‘see if it violates your own policies’ is a code for extortion with plausible deniability. Could anythin…

[dead]

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#183

Post by LarryMullins »

poszlem wrote: post #18

I am still baffled by the radio silence about any of that in the mainstream media. My prediction is that this, the Rittenhouse trial coverage, and the attempts to shut down the discussion about the lab Leak theory are going to be viewed in a few years the same way as the mainstream media's complicity and collusion with the government before the Iraq war.

A few weeks ago over Thanksgiving, I found out that my aunt believes Rittenhouse killed "several black people". She doesn't live under a rock per-se, she keeps herself steeped in TV news (so she may as well be under a rock.)

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#184

Post by Eisenstein »

lurquer wrote: post #166
acdha wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I could see a world where ‘see if it violates your own policies’ is a code for extortion with plausible deniability. This is possible but I would expect people to look for evidence of it before presenting it as a fact. Something like that would show up in internal communications either directly or as people talking like they didn’t really have a choice, or as a trend of tweets being taken down for reasons which don…

The US is a limited govt. No govt agency can do anything for which it isn’t explicitly authorized. The FBI is not authorized to be ensuring private companies adhere to their policies. If a agent is being paid — with taxpayer dollars - to check on Twitter and give it ‘advice’ on how to run itself, that agent is acting outside the scope of his authority. It’s an abuse and misuse of power. It doesn’t matter what the ‘gr…

So, cops are not allowed to do welfare checks because there is no crime of 'dying alone in your house' and there is no explicit authorization for police to enforce wellbeing? Don't be adsurd.

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#185

Post by machina_ex_deus »

acdha wrote: post #101
machina_ex_deus wrote: post #21

If you don't see anything wrong with the government forcing censorship on controversial political questions, such as whether elections are safe and fair, just imagine your own reaction if after the 2016 election, Trump's FBI would be monitoring Twitter for any information about Cambridge Analytica / Russia's interference, labeling them as misinformation and censoring and banning everyone mentioning them. If your valu…

> If you don't see anything wrong with the government forcing censorship on controversial political questions Nobody is saying that it wouldn’t be a problem. The debate is whether the Twitter Files shows anything of the sort, and begging the question like that calls into question whether you’re actually interested in a honest discussion.

Is that the debate? Because I think it's pretty settled the files show extensive collaboration of the FBI and Twitter on controversial topics, it shows many instances of twits censored by a request from the FBI. Am I moving the debate position or are you? Did you even read them? Many comments here accept the existing evidence as something normal. I disagree strongly.

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#186

Post by none_to_remain »

whatsu wrote: post #94
froggertoaster wrote: post #29

You can downplay this all you want - but remember: stuff like this is a microcosm of a larger issue. Sections of your government worked directly with Twitter to control what information you saw. Much bigger organizations - Facebook comes to mind - must be doing the same thing every.single.day. And no one finds this even a little bit alarming?

It is true that governments have always had an influence on how we live our lives, whether through traditional media like newspapers and television, or more modern platforms like social media. This is not a new phenomenon, but rather something that has always existed in society. However, with the proliferation of the internet and social media, it has become easier for governments to monitor and regulate online conten…

[flagged]

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#187

Post by joshuamorton »

rightbyte wrote: post #149
joshuamorton wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There has never been need to have judicial oversight when making a request , the FBI can send a request to Twitter just the same as they can ask you to come in for an interview. You're free to refuse.

Ye no. I would certainly worry alot more if FBI sent me an angry letter compared to say Pizza Hut? You always have an implied threat when a government agency is involved.

Sure, but you also don't have a team of lawyers who know how to deal with the government. Twitter does (or, well, did).

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#188

Post by Eisenstein »

nverno wrote: post #179
mef wrote: post #9

I’ve been trying to read these Twitter files threads thoughtfully, and maybe it’s just a sign of the current average level of comfort with government involvement with social media platforms, but I’m generally not seeing much issue with the stuff being revealed. the worst thing about this particular thread seems like the govt agencies talking to Twitter about foreign influence are overreaching a bit (eg asking them to…

> current average level of comfort with government involvement It really all comes down to this- it's largely a matter of personal comfort/risk tolerance. Personally, I'd be happy to see entire agencies wiped out, the CIA and the NSA obliterated, the FBI cut back to where it was in the 60s or so, preferably focused on mob/cartel activity and the like. The CIA should never have been separated out from the military and…

The FBI in the 60s was inflitrating and disrupting civil rights groups.

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#189

Post by pannSun »

beej71 wrote: post #172
pannSun wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you miss [1]? The US govt. used its influence over Twitter to help sell its foreign policy (military interventions included) to the US and global audience. The only way you could not take issue with it, is if you're fine with govt. psyops/undisclosed propaganda. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34111071

I'm struggling to understand what punishment needs to be handed out, here. The government asked Twitter to keep some of their fake propaganda accounts online and Twitter did. What laws have been violated?

We are discussing whether the event is notable, not if it is legal. And as someone not from the US, I care more about making people aware that Twitter collaborates with the US to help spread their govt. propaganda (in the same way I would want them to know if the doctor they're discussing smoking with is employed by the tobacco industry), than whether Twitter complies with laws written by that same government.

I.e. claiming no laws were violated (hypothetically) is as much a defense of Twitter as claiming TikTok hasn't broken Chinese law.

Re: The FBI was the primary link between the intelligence community and Twitter

#190

Post by acdha »

machina_ex_deus wrote: post #185
acdha wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you don't see anything wrong with the government forcing censorship on controversial political questions Nobody is saying that it wouldn’t be a problem. The debate is whether the Twitter Files shows anything of the sort, and begging the question like that calls into question whether you’re actually interested in a honest discussion.

Is that the debate? Because I think it's pretty settled the files show extensive collaboration of the FBI and Twitter on controversial topics, it shows many instances of twits censored by a request from the FBI. Am I moving the debate position or are you? Did you even read them? Many comments here accept the existing evidence as something normal. I disagree strongly.

I read them, and I know that what I saw was the FBI reporting TOS violations. Can you provide a link to a tweet which you believe was censored but was not in fact a TOS violation?
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