Fireworks arrived February 9 in DC, many months prior to the typical July 4 Celebration.
Specifically, they came in the form of Republicans on the House Oversight Committee and former Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard utterly blasting former Twitter executives for their secret and partisan censorship over everything from the truth about the Hunter Biden laptop to the truth about COVID-19 related matters.
One of the most critical GOP members to probe the former execs was Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who pounced on Yoel Roth, former head of Twitter’s Trust and Safety team, and Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s former Chief Legal Officer.
As Brandon Morse reports for RedState, Boebert directly asked them if Twitter had ever “shadow-banned” her – i.e. reduced the visibility of her Tweets. Their denials led her to reveal her trump-card knowledge and evidence, available thanks to the change in Twitter operations under new CEO, Elon Musk.
“‘Well, let me refresh your memory,’ began Boebert. ‘On March 12, 2021, Mr. Roth, I know you looked at it because fascist Twitter 1.0 had a public interest exceptions policy which means for members of Congress to be shadowbanned, it had to go before you, Mr. Roth. So I’ll ask again: Did you shadow-ban my account? Yes or no?’”
Roth’s fidgeting and denials were useless, since Ms. Boebert already knew the truth. Writes Morse:
“She had the information that they had indeed silenced her and over a simple joke she’d made about Hillary Clinton being angry she couldn’t rig her election. Roth’s response, according to the information provided to Boebert, was to place a 90-day filter on her account so she couldn’t be found in searches and prevented notification for non-followers.
‘This is considered an aggressive visibility filter,’ said Boebert. ‘You silenced members of congress from communicating with their constituents. You silenced me from communicating with the American people over a freaking joke.’”
And she added:
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
Notes Morse:
“During these hearings, Roth claimed he was “surprised” by the visibility filters put on elected officials, but Musk revealed that claim to be absolutely false seeing as how Roth placed many of them there himself.”
The elected officials were not merely protesting how Twitter treated them. Boebert was in good, righteously indignant, company beside Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC).
Related: Big Tech’s Censorship Effect Is BERSERK | MRCTV
Facing the Twitteratti, and focusing with fierce eyes on Gadde, Mace offered personal information to the mix, revealing an example of the disastrous effects of Twitter censoring valid medical dissent over questionable government COVID-19 policies, jab propaganda, and more, saying, in part, “Twitter worked overtime to suppress accurate COVID information…”
And she added:
“I, along with many Americans, have long-term effects from COVID. Not only was I a long-hauler, but I have effects from the vaccine. It wasn’t the first shot, but it was the second shot, that I now developed asthma that has never gone away since I had the second shot. I have tremors in my left hand, and I have the occasional heart pain that no doctor can explain, and I’ve had a battery of tests.”
Addressing Gadde, she asked:
“Where did you go to medical school?”
Gadde, of course, replied that she did not go to medical school. Perhaps one can trust her on that score.
And Mace let loose:
“Why do you think you, or anyone else at Twitter, have the medical expertise to censor a doctor’s expert opinion?”
For her sake, former Congresswoman from Hawaii, and former Democrat, Tulsi Gabbard spoke up about the team-up between federal government forces and social media, decrying the Orwellian tactics.
And there was much more, culminating in former cop, now Republican Congressman from Louisiana, Clay Higgins blasting the former Twitter crew, almost as if he were before suspected criminals in an interrogation room:
“You, ladies and gentlemen, interfered with the United States of America 2020 Presidential election. Knowingly, and willingly. That’s the bad news. It’s gonna get worse. Because this is the investigation part. Later, comes the arrest part. Your attorneys are familiar with that. Mr. Chairman, I’d like to spend five hours with these ladies and gentlemen, doing depositions, surely yet to come. But for right now, I yield the balance of my time to my colleague, Mr. Jordan.”
That would be Jim Jordan, the head of the Oversight Committee, and the main force behind calling the hearings on social media censorship, collusion with political forces within government and even FBI payments to Twitter.
It remains to be seen whether these hearings will lead to anything more than these fiery statements, but they can serve to help inspire us, the others who have been shadow-banned, blocked, and silenced, to tell our friends and colleagues, our loved ones and neighbors, that we were right.
Lives have been damaged by this political policing of speech.
And it is important that the corruption be exposed.
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