Evidence already has confirmed that the FBI had open channels through which it worked to lobby social media companies to suppress information it disliked in recent elections, despite the apparent violations of the First Amendment those campaigns involved.
One incident involved the revelations about the laptop computer abandoned by Hunter Biden at a repair shop that outlined many Biden family scandals, including international business schemes.
The FBI warned social media it could be Russian "disinformation" and those companies then suppressed the details that accurately were being reported.
Now the FBI has moved to shut down the release of any more information about its dealings with Twitter.
The Washington Examiner reports the FBI is blocking the release of records of its officials "advising" Twitter workers how to attack information they disliked.
"Officials at the FBI repeatedly flagged alleged examples of election 'misinformation' in early 2020 and late 2022 to Twitter under its then-CEO Jack Dorsey, with the platform in some cases removing accounts shortly after government outreach, according to emails published by journalist Matt Taibbi in December 2022 as part of the 'Twitter Files,'" the Examiner said.
But now it has closed a records request from the watchdog Protect the Public's Trust that sought to obtain more details.
The FBI claims the information if released, could create an "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."
According to the Examiner, PPT's director, Michael Chamberlain, described the FBI's response as "nothing short of bizarre."
"They twisted the substance of the requests and then asserted the right to deny acknowledging if records even exist based upon their mangled interpretation, and even though they have already admitted that the records exist," he said.
And that, Chamberlain continued, only raises "suspicion" about what the FBI actually did.
The report confirmed Yoel Roth, formerly of Twitter, "emailed over 150 times from January 2020 to November 2022 with officials at the FBI, according to Taibbi, who published emails providing examples of the bureau calling for accounts spreading purported 'misinformation' to face repercussions."
The report explained, "In one instance, the [FBI] sent an email in November 2022 to the FBI's San Francisco office with a list of 25 accounts that were allegedly promulgating 'misinformation' and asked for the office to engage in 'coordination' with Twitter to see if they violated the 'terms of service,' emails show. That same day, assistant special agent in charge Elvis Chan at the FBI's San Francisco office wrote to the social media platform and requested to be informed if Twitter 'decide to take any actions against these accounts based on our tipper to you,' according to emails."
Within two days, Twitter confirmed it had suspended some of those accounts.
Such evidence prompted PPT to launch a vast request for information, seeking communications from 2020 to 2022 involving the FBI and Twitter.
The FBI recently said the request was "closed."
But the PPT said it has filed appeals of that determination because of the "tremendous public interest in knowing how the FBI interacted with Twitter, particularly with respect to suppressing speech by American citizens."
Under the First Amendment, the government is not allowed to censor Americans' speech. Private corporations can, on their own platforms, and the issue has developed that the government has been using private companies to do its censorship chores.
via wnd