(National Review) Journalist Bari Weiss released the second installment of “The Twitter Files” on Thursday night, outlining the company’s “secret blacklists.”
Among the individuals targeted by Twitter were prominent conservative commentators such as Dan Bongino of Fox News and Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA. The former was targeted with a “search blacklist,” while the latter was slapped with a “do not amplify” internal notice, Weiss revealed in screenshots.
1. A new #TwitterFiles investigation reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics—all in secret, without informing users.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
The latest investigation into Twitter’s past conduct, based on access granted by new owner Elon Musk, “reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics—all in secret, without informing users,” Weiss tweeted.
Many commentators had long alleged that Twitter “shadow-bans” conservative voices, but Weiss’s series of tweets adds concrete proof via screenshots that the practice was actually in place.
4. Or consider the popular right-wing talk show host, Dan Bongino (@dbongino), who at one point was slapped with a “Search Blacklist.” pic.twitter.com/AdOK8xLu9v
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
Another individual Weiss highlighted was Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford professor and doctor critical of Covid-19 lockdowns, who was added to Twitter’s “trends blacklist” for his views.
Twitter repeatedly denied that it used shadow-banning. In 2018, Twitter’s head of legal policy and trust Vijaya Gadde (since fired by Musk) and head of product Kayvon Beykpour stated: “We do not shadow ban. . . . And we certainly don’t shadow ban based on political viewpoints or ideology.”
