The ‘Twitter Files’ Affair: Since Taking Over the Company, Elon Musk Regularly Makes Tough Political Decisions

Managing social media platforms is not an easy task. If you don’t believe us, feel free to ask former Twitter employees whose decision to block the New York Post’s 2020 story about Hunter, the son of Joe Biden, was recently taken up in tweets by Substack writer Matt Taibbi… Or simply ask Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, who praised Taibbi’s tweets filled with screenshots that allegedly show the company’s internal messages.

Despite their billing as evidence of the company’s history of political bias, the records depicted people caught in a trap that now ensnares Musk himself. Now he is the one who must make tough decisions about what to allow on Twitter.

The Involvement of Politics in Twitter

A series of tweets, which Taibbi called ‘Twitter Files’, shows company executives having to make a challenging management move in a very awkward situation. Presidential elections were approaching, and the New York Post reported that a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden contained evidence that he inappropriately attempted to broker a meeting between a business client and his father while Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States.

Emails and messages in the screenshots published by Taibbi show what one executive called a ‘whirlwind’, as some of Twitter’s security officials questioned the initial decision to block sharing the story due to a violation of the platform’s policy on the distribution of hacked materials. It remains unclear what the origin of the laptop is and whether all the files on it truly belong to Hunter Biden.

The screenshots displayed a warning from one employee.

– We will face tough questions about this if we don’t have some solid justification – he wrote.

The company’s lawyer believed it was ‘reasonable for Twitter to assume’ that the material the newspapers obtained was stolen. Other screenshots showed Twitter executives seeking advice from a Democratic member of Congress and a technology industry lobbyist.

What did the world learn about Twitter’s handling of the incident from the so-called Twitter Files? Not much. After all, Twitter reversed its decision two days later, and then-CEO Jack Dorsey said the moderation decision was ‘wrong’. Instead, this topic opened the door to numerous conspiracy theories swirling around the laptop story, including the unsubstantiated claim that government officials intervened to cover up the Post’s story.

One Boss

However, the most prominent lesson from Taibbi’s topic can be applied to Musk himself, who has almost unilaterally decided to make major moderation decisions on Twitter.

In the past two weeks, Musk has reactivated the account of former U.S. President Donald Trump based on the results of a Twitter poll and unblocked a number of other users who had previously been banned from the site for violating content rules. Musk has also advocated for the return of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, whose account was restricted in October after Ye posted an antisemitic tweet. It is worth noting that restricted accounts still appear on the platform, but users cannot post or communicate with them.

Nevertheless, Musk recently announced that Ye would be suspended again after he posted a picture of a swastika within a Star of David on Twitter. His justification, which academics and journalists called vague, was that the post violated Twitter’s rules against inciting violence.

Like Twitter employees who discussed the New York Post story in 2020, Musk found himself in a difficult situation and seemed to feel pressured to make the right decision. Also, just like those past arbiters of Twitter’s policy, the action behind the scenes seemed somewhat chaotic.

Kanye and Musk Corresponded

A leaked text message from Ye appears to show that Musk first directly messaged the rapper, indicating he was willing to provide personal favors to some violators of his moderation policy even if they espoused antisemitic views.

– Sorry, but you went too far. This is not love – Musk told Ye, according to photos he shared before his Twitter account was suspended again.

– Who appointed you as judge – Ye replied in a message.

Musk’s management challenges will only complicate from now on. The longer he owns the site, the more likely he is to face increasing political entanglements. Additionally, recent research has shown that hate speech has become more visible on Twitter since Musk took over.

The company did not respond to a request for comment on its bans against inciting violence and how it will enforce rules against violators. Twitter has disbanded its communications team.