Elon Musk expressed his surprise about the extent of access that government agencies had within the social media platform. He made this statement in a promotional clip for his interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News. Musk took over Twitter’s ownership six months ago.
“The degree to which various government agencies effectively had full access to everything that was going on at Twitter blew my mind,” he said. “I was not aware of that.”
In the short clip, Carlson asks Musk if government access involves receiving direct messages, and Musk confirms that it does.
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 16, 2023
On Sunday, the official Twitter account of Carlson shared a clip which created excitement for the upcoming interview on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to be broadcasted on Monday. However, the clip did not reveal whether Musk mentions any specific agencies. As per the Twitter website, they will not provide private information to law enforcement unless there is a legal process or a valid emergency request.
Twitter has stated that a valid search warrant or equivalent from an agency with proper jurisdiction is required to access the contents of direct messages and other communications. Musk, who recently took over Twitter after a $44 billion purchase, has been sharing internal company documents and communications, known as “The Twitter Files,” which have been released by various journalists in multiple installments.
The disclosed information reveals that Twitter executives discussed how to handle sensitive issues such as the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election. The government, election campaigns, and elected officials, including Rep. Adam Schiff’s office, also made requests to suspend specific accounts. Some Republicans have criticized Twitter for unethical coordination and limiting free speech, but former Twitter officials deny any collusion with the government.
The FBI released a statement in December, following revelations about its contacts with Twitter employees flagging posts that may have violated the company’s terms of service, pushing back on “conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.”
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the mass layoffs at Twitter after Musk took over and examining whether the company has the necessary resources to safeguard user privacy. The Securities Exchange Commission is also conducting an inquiry into Musk. Additionally, according to a lawsuit, the Justice Department has looked into Twitter as well. Basically, it’s just been another attempt by Democrats to try and censor conservative speech on the internet. They know that Twitter isn’t trying to censor everyone like they used to and they don’t like that at all.