White House dismisses Elon Musk's release of Twitter Files, calls it a 'distraction' from hate speech

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

2024 Student Journalism Conference

Applications are now open for The Democracy Fund's third annual Student Journalism Conference. This is a one-of-a-kind, all-expenses-paid opportunity for young aspiring journalists in Canada!

TDF Student Journalism Conference 2024

E-transfer (Canada):
[email protected] - password RebelNews if required

Cheques made out to Rebel News:
Rebel News Network Ltd.
PO Box 61056 Eglinton/Dufferin RO
Toronto, ON M6E 5B2

Crypto

The Biden White House on late Monday addressed Elon Musk’s release of the Twitter Files, dismissing the revelations published by journalist Matt Taibbi as “old news.”

The White House echoed remarks made by establishment media figures, which have tried to downplay the release of the files.

As detailed by Rebel News, former Twitter executive Vijaya Gadde, who headed the company’s legal, policy, and trust department, played a “key role” in the story’s suppression, and that Twitter worked alongside the Biden campaign to censor content on the platform.

The White House cries 'hate speech' and 'anti-semeticism' in defence of #twitterfiles

I'm surprised they haven't called @elonmusk a racist yet!

This is a disgrace to the position of @POTUS and the American people! pic.twitter.com/kx2SyDTwMd

— James Freeman (@JamesfWells) December 5, 2022

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre decried the release of the files, referring to them as a “distraction” and “old news.” 

“If you think about it, and at the same time, Twitter is facing very real and very serious questions about the rising volume of anger, hate and anti-Semitism on their platform, and how they're letting it happen,” said Jean-Pierre.

“And, you know, the President said last week, more leaders need to speak out and reject this. And it's very alarming and very dangerous,” Jean-Pierre said. “it's not healthy, it won't do anything to help a single American improve their lives.”

Contrary to Jean-Pierre’s claims, Twitter’s incidences of hate speech have dropped according to Twitter’s metrics.

Hate speech impressions (# of times tweet was viewed) continue to decline, despite significant user growth!@TwitterSafety will publish data weekly.

Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of reach. Negativity should & will get less reach than positivity. pic.twitter.com/36zl29rCSM

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022