The latest disclosures from Twitter are raising concerns among lawmakers that the platform’s former proprietor, Jack Dorsey, lied to Congress when, in 2018, he denied Twitter was “shadow banning” or censoring conservatives.This idea is being voiced by at least one congresswoman, Elise Stefanik of New York, the House GOP Conference chairwoman, while several other Republicans have expressed their intention to hold hearings on tech censorship after they take over the House majority in January. In 2018, Congress grilled Mr. Dorsey about accusations the social media platform intentionally suppressed the accounts of prominent conservatives, to which Mr. Dorsey replied point blank that it did not.“I want to read a few quotes about Twitter’s practices and I just want you to tell me if they’re true or not,” Representative Mike Doyle, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, asked in the hearing. “Social media is being rigged to censor conservatives. Is that true of Twitter?”“No,” Mr. Dorsey responded. “Are you censoring people?” Mr. Doyle asked. “No,” Mr. Dorsey replied. “Twitter’s shadow-banning prominent Republicans … is that true?” Mr. Doyle asked. “No,” Mr. Dorsey said.Information released by journalist Bari Weiss Thursday night as part of “Twitter Files Part Two” contradicts Mr. Dorsey’s testimony. In a series of tweets with screenshots, Ms. Weiss shows how accounts of prominent conservatives got flagged with tags such as “Search Blacklist,” “Do Not Amplify,” and “Trends Blacklist” to prevent their tweets from reaching a wider audience. Ms. Weiss points to the accounts of a right wing talk show host, Dan Bongino, Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, and a Stanford University scientist who opposed Covid school closures and lockdowns, Jay Bhattacharya, as examples.“What many people call ‘shadow banning,’ Twitter executives and employees call ‘Visibility Filtering’ or ‘VF,’” Ms. Weiss writes. “‘VF’ refers to Twitter’s control over user visibility.”Ms. Weiss also details that there was one group at Twitter, the Strategic Response Team-Global Escalation Team, responsible for flagging average accounts, while another composed of high-level executives, including Mr. Dorsey, handled high-profile accounts. This last disclosure is the basis for Ms. Stefanik’s accusations of perjury by Mr. Dorsey.“Twitter shadow banned conservatives, clearly interfered in the election, and then lied under oath about it,” Ms. Stefanik tweeted Friday. “The House GOP Majority will investigate this abuse of power and put an end to Big Tech’s bias and targeted censorship.”Ms. Weiss’s “Twitter Files” release received a predictably partisan response, with conservatives praising it for showing what they’d long expected: that shadow-banning was real; Democrats criticized Ms. Weiss for doing the bidding of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, and noted that the new Twitter owner tweeted last month that he would impose a similar practice to make hateful tweets “max deboosted & demonetized.”“Come January, Big Tech will be held accountable for their flagrant bias,” Representative Pat Fallon, a Republican of Texas, tweeted. Congressman Jim Jordan retweeted that message, while also accusing tech executives of lying.Whether Republicans will try to hold Mr. Dorsey to account for his 2018 testimony before Congress remains to be seen. “If the goal is transparency to build trust, why not just release everything without filter,” Mr. Dorsey tweeted at Mr. Musk, “Make everything public now.”The Sun attempted to reach Mr. Dorsey for comment but so far has not received a reply.When the GOP takes the House next month, it’s likely tech censorship will be high on its priority list. For now, though, Mr. Musk is leading the charge. More “Twitter Files” releases are expected soon. After the first “Twitter Files” release last week, Senator Cruz expressed his outrage and vowed there would be an investigation. “Everyone who lied under oath, they better be retaining lawyers because they’re facing real civil and criminal jeopardy right now,” he said.
