According to records reportedly revealed Friday by independent journalist Matt Taibbi, staffers for Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California repeatedly requested that Twitter delete and restrict tweets by users on the social media network.
According to the records, Schiff’s office requested that Twitter remove “any and all search results concerning [Schiff employee Sean] Misko and other committee personnel,” a request that Twitter refused as unthinkable under its rules.
The records also reveal that Schiff’s office and the Democratic National Committee asked Twitter to remove an April 26, 2020 message including a modified GIF of Joe Biden sticking his tongue out after then-President Donald Trump retweeted it.
A request which Twitter officials later denied.
Taibbi earlier revealed on January 3, 2023, that Schiff’s office had urged Twitter in November 2020 to ban investigative journalist Paul Sperry and erase information connected to Schiff employees.
Twitter originally refused to remove Sperry, but he was eventually suspended in August 2022.
Although Twitter refused calls for outright bans, the papers show that it often deamplified, or reduced the reach of, accounts that promoted QAnon-related information.
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