The internal company documents offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how the federal agencies distorted the public debate one of the world's largest social media platforms. The so-called Twitter Files, written by a group of independent journalists given access to internal company documents, offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how the federal government shaped the flow of information on one of the world's largest social media platforms. Some tech pundits say that the Twitter Files contain no secrets: they knew about the thousands of takedown requests the company receives every month from law enforcement agencies and the courts, or they had already opined about the immense challenges of content moderation. However, the Twitter Files have brought important new information to light. They show that the company stifled debate over important policy issues by shadowbanning certain accounts for no good reason and then misleading the public. They show that Twitter was routinely strongarmed by the White House and the FBI into complying with frivolous takedown requests. And they provide evidence that the intelligence community likely influenced the decision to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story during Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign."Almost every conspiracy theory that people had about Twitter turned out to be true," Elon Musk said on the All-In Podcast in late December. "Is there a conspiracy theory about Twitter that didn't turn out to be true?"
theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators
a theory asserting that a secret of great importance is being kept from the public
an attempt to explain harmful or tragic events as the result of the actions of a small powerful group. Such explanations reject the accepted narrative surrounding those events; indeed, the official version may be seen as further proof of the conspiracy.
