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The argument seems to be that what the FBI is doing is more or less analogous to you clicking the report button, which hardly makes you a shadowy figure control

The argument seems to be that what the FBI is doing is more or less analogous to you clicking the report button, which hardly makes you a shadowy figure controlling Twitter if they act on your report.

pasquinelli 4y ago
yeah except i'm just me and the fbi is the fbi.
- emodendroket 4y ago
  Obviously these reports are given more priority but who's going to just ignore FBI reports?
  - devmunchies 4y ago
    For real. exactly why the govt is supposed to stay out of censorship.
  - pasquinelli 4y ago
    i'd probably just do whatever the fbi wanted so as to save myself a possible hassle. which is the point: the fbi can fuck with me. to say, "well, the fbi is just reporting stuff" ignores that the fbi has power. power is something people seem to have an odd tendency to ignore.
    - ModernMech 4y ago
      > power is something people seem to have an odd tendency to ignore. Indeed, just as you seem to ignore Twitter’s power. They are protected from the FBI by the Constitution and the courts, and they have the money (read: power) to actually enforce those protections had they felt threatened or coerced by the government. The FBI may have power but they are not all powerful, not even close.
    - emodendroket 4y ago
      So what is the revelation here, or what does it suggest we should do?
benmmurphy 4y ago
It is very clearly an improper purpose. The FBI is trying to suppress 1A protected speech by reporting the tweets. The FBI is not allowed to suppress 1A protected speech. Imagine there was a button that would delete a Tweet and anyone could press it. Just because anyone could press the button would not make it legal for the FBI to press it.
- eganist 4y ago
  > It is very clearly an improper purpose. The FBI is trying to suppress 1A protected speech by reporting the tweets. The FBI is not allowed to suppress 1A protected speech. Imagine there was a button that would delete a Tweet and anyone could press it. Just because anyone could press the button would not make it legal for the FBI to press it. I keep seeing this, and I'm confused every time I see it, because speech on a private platform isn't protected by the first amendment. Twitter can always say no to the feds (and other governments) in re: far more onerous and demanding requests than just an agent clicking a Report button, and in fact with far more official processes you can see the stats where they actually do just that. https://transparency.twitter.com/en/reports/removal-requests.html#2021-jul-dec https://transparency.twitter.com/en/reports/removal-requests...
  - refurb 4y ago
    I keep seeing this, and I'm confused every time I see it, because speech on a private platform isn't protected by the first amendment. Ummm… yes it is when the speech is being suppressed by the government? That’s kinda the entire point of the 1st amendment. The courts have ruled that the government asking a private party to censor is no different than the government censoring itself.
    - emodendroket 4y ago
      What case did they rule that? It seems pretty routine that they get in contact with newspapers for this purpose so I'd be at least a little surprised to learn that it's been ruled unconstitutional but they're just flagrantly doing it anyway.
faddypaddy34 4y ago
Except it's not clicking the report button. See the FBI could have a special agent assigned to clicking the report button instead of directly emailing Twitter asking for the removal of things that are in some cases obvious jokes.
naasking 4y ago
> The argument seems to be that what the FBI is doing is more or less analogous to you clicking the report button Weekly meetings between the FBI and top Twitter executives is "akin to clicking the report button"? Name one other Twitter user that had this privilege. I think that's a pretty strong sign that you're trying to stretch this analogy too far.
- TOMDM 4y ago
  Where are you getting weekly meetings from? This set of tweets details 150 emails total over a period of over two and a half years (jan 2020 to nov 2022). It even specifically quotes their mention of their quarterly meeting. My biggest problem with people who think the Twitter files are A Big Deal, is their seeming inability to accurately describe the contents.
  - naasking 4y ago
    > My biggest problem with people who think the Twitter files are A Big Deal, is their seeming inability to accurately describe the contents. Or maybe you're just ignorant of the contents: https://news.yahoo.com/twitter-executive-met-fbi-weekly-015002812.html https://news.yahoo.com/twitter-executive-met-fbi-weekly-0150...
    - TOMDM 4y ago
      Ah, I was reading this dump for the proof of a weekly mention, my mistake.

pasquinelli 4y ago

yeah except i'm just me and the fbi is the fbi.

emodendroket 4y ago
Obviously these reports are given more priority but who's going to just ignore FBI reports?
- devmunchies 4y ago
  For real. exactly why the govt is supposed to stay out of censorship.
- pasquinelli 4y ago
  i'd probably just do whatever the fbi wanted so as to save myself a possible hassle. which is the point: the fbi can fuck with me. to say, "well, the fbi is just reporting stuff" ignores that the fbi has power. power is something people seem to have an odd tendency to ignore.
  - ModernMech 4y ago
    > power is something people seem to have an odd tendency to ignore. Indeed, just as you seem to ignore Twitter’s power. They are protected from the FBI by the Constitution and the courts, and they have the money (read: power) to actually enforce those protections had they felt threatened or coerced by the government. The FBI may have power but they are not all powerful, not even close.
  - emodendroket 4y ago
    So what is the revelation here, or what does it suggest we should do?

benmmurphy 4y ago

It is very clearly an improper purpose. The FBI is trying to suppress 1A protected speech by reporting the tweets. The FBI is not allowed to suppress 1A protected speech. Imagine there was a button that would delete a Tweet and anyone could press it. Just because anyone could press the button would not make it legal for the FBI to press it.

eganist 4y ago
> It is very clearly an improper purpose. The FBI is trying to suppress 1A protected speech by reporting the tweets. The FBI is not allowed to suppress 1A protected speech. Imagine there was a button that would delete a Tweet and anyone could press it. Just because anyone could press the button would not make it legal for the FBI to press it. I keep seeing this, and I'm confused every time I see it, because speech on a private platform isn't protected by the first amendment. Twitter can always say no to the feds (and other governments) in re: far more onerous and demanding requests than just an agent clicking a Report button, and in fact with far more official processes you can see the stats where they actually do just that. https://transparency.twitter.com/en/reports/removal-requests.html#2021-jul-dec https://transparency.twitter.com/en/reports/removal-requests...
- refurb 4y ago
  I keep seeing this, and I'm confused every time I see it, because speech on a private platform isn't protected by the first amendment. Ummm… yes it is when the speech is being suppressed by the government? That’s kinda the entire point of the 1st amendment. The courts have ruled that the government asking a private party to censor is no different than the government censoring itself.
  - emodendroket 4y ago
    What case did they rule that? It seems pretty routine that they get in contact with newspapers for this purpose so I'd be at least a little surprised to learn that it's been ruled unconstitutional but they're just flagrantly doing it anyway.

faddypaddy34 4y ago

Except it's not clicking the report button. See the FBI could have a special agent assigned to clicking the report button instead of directly emailing Twitter asking for the removal of things that are in some cases obvious jokes.

naasking 4y ago

> The argument seems to be that what the FBI is doing is more or less analogous to you clicking the report button Weekly meetings between the FBI and top Twitter executives is "akin to clicking the report button"? Name one other Twitter user that had this privilege. I think that's a pretty strong sign that you're trying to stretch this analogy too far.

TOMDM 4y ago
Where are you getting weekly meetings from? This set of tweets details 150 emails total over a period of over two and a half years (jan 2020 to nov 2022). It even specifically quotes their mention of their quarterly meeting. My biggest problem with people who think the Twitter files are A Big Deal, is their seeming inability to accurately describe the contents.
- naasking 4y ago
  > My biggest problem with people who think the Twitter files are A Big Deal, is their seeming inability to accurately describe the contents. Or maybe you're just ignorant of the contents: https://news.yahoo.com/twitter-executive-met-fbi-weekly-015002812.html https://news.yahoo.com/twitter-executive-met-fbi-weekly-0150...
  - TOMDM 4y ago
    Ah, I was reading this dump for the proof of a weekly mention, my mistake.