The Curious Case of Censorship: When Civil Rights Advocates Seek to Silence the Press
Part One: The effort to silence undercover journalist James O'Keefe...
In a world where the freedom of the press is often hailed as a cornerstone of democracy, it's alarming to see instances where this very freedom is under threat. The recent story involving the President of a Civil Rights group lobbying Twitter to censor the reporting of journalist James O'Keefe is one such instance that raises eyebrows and questions.
The Heart of the Matter
At the center of this narrative is the delicate balance between freedom of the press and the perceived need to protect the public from "dangerous" information. It's a tale of those who lobbied Twitter to censor a journalist and citizens who commented on a story that didn't sit well with their political affiliations.
Interestingly, James O'Keefe, the journalist in question, is no stranger to controversy. He's currently being represented by the @ACLU in a separate case concerning the infringement of his journalistic rights.
The Email Chain that Started It All
On January 4th, 2021, Vanita Gupta, the CEO & President of the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, reached out to Vijaya Gadde, the former VP of Twitter. Gupta expressed her gratitude for Gadde's response to her concerns about certain "dangerous tweets." But the plot thickens. In the same email, Gupta made a peculiar request: she wanted two members from "Fair Fight" (a Political Action Committee founded by Stacey Abrams in 2018) to be involved in Twitter's team that polices disinformation related to the Georgia elections. Who is Fair Fight?
While Gupta was included in the subsequent correspondence, there's no evidence of her further interaction with Twitter after this request. It remains a mystery why she wanted the Fair Fight team to address these tweets.
A Twist in the Tale
Merely three days after Gupta's email to Twitter, her organization proudly announced that Joe Biden had nominated her for the role of U.S. Associate Attorney General. While this nomination might explain her sudden silence, Gupta did not respond to requests for comment, leaving us in the realm of speculation.
Twitter's Response
Vijaya Gadde, acting on Gupta's request, involved her team at Twitter to review and potentially escalate any issues. The team then sought links from the Fair Fight Political Action Committee to "address accordingly."
Out of the nine links Fair Fight provided only one account, "CosmicScribe21," faced suspension. However, this wasn't due to a tweet but a violation of Twitter's Ban Evasion policy.
The Controversial Tweets
The primary tweet flagged by Fair Fight was a video shared by James O'Keefe about the Georgia election. While Twitter initially labeled it as "Civic Misinformation," this label was later removed. Another tweet highlighted by Fair Fight was James O'Keefe's follow-up story about Fulton County election officials removing staff bios from their website.
Despite Fair Fight's insistence that James O'Keefe was doxing individuals in his video, Twitter maintained that the video only contained public information and did not violate their terms of service.
The Aftermath
Although James O'Keefe wasn't suspended in January 2021, Twitter permanently suspended his account a few months later without prior notice. The reasons and repercussions of this action will be delved into in a subsequent piece.
Acknowledgments
In wrapping up this exposé, a special shoutout to award-winning journalist, Paul Thacker @thackerpd and @TexasLindsay_, for their invaluable insights. And a nod to @elonmusk for championing free speech and ensuring stories like these see the light of day.