President Trump’s Justice Department is continuing to withhold details about payments made to Twitter as part of its efforts to censor what it considers “misinformation.” Recently, Judge James Boasberg, who was appointed by Obama, ruled that the DOJ can keep the FBI’s quarterly payments to Twitter from 2016 to 2023 under wraps.
According to journalist Michael Shellenberger, these payments amounted to around $3.5 million between October 2019 and February 2021. The exact reasons for these payments remain somewhat murky, especially as the government has been pressuring social media companies to manage content related to the coronavirus.
In October 2023, Judicial Oversight sued for records of these payments after the FBI did not fully respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from December 2022. In a statement, Boasberg noted that these records were tied to FBI investigations into crimes and national security threats.
Twitter provides semi-annual reports on the number of “legal process requests” it receives but doesn’t disclose specific quarterly payments for the FBI. Boasberg pointed out that knowing the details of these payments could reveal how law enforcement utilizes certain technologies in its operations.
Documents from the Twitter Files have indicated that the platform faced pressure in 2023 to remove posts labeled as “misinformation” by government officials. Furthermore, it was reported that Twitter limited access to articles about Hunter Biden’s laptop after the FBI alerted them to a potential Russian operation aimed at influencing the 2020 election.
Timothy Lauer from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia stated that revealing payment amounts would shine light on the FBI’s relationship with social media platforms. He expressed concerns that bad actors might exploit this information to evade detection by the FBI.
Judicial Oversight’s Chairman Tom Fitton criticized the Justice Department’s reluctance to disclose payment details, given the FBI’s controversial relationship with Twitter regarding censorship. He argued that public interest warranted transparency about such expenditures.
The FBI had previously obtained four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to monitor a Trump campaign aide, Carter Page, amid allegations of inaccuracies in the applications. A government filing stated that revealing the FBI’s payments to Twitter could illustrate how their interactions fluctuated over time.
Fitton also noted that his organization has encountered difficulties securing records through FOIA under the Trump administration. He contended that the issues they raise are vital for public awareness and that transparency regarding corruption should be prioritized.
