Twitter Files Part 2: Twitter reads DMs

A trove of Twitter Files released this week has revealed that Twitter bosses and senior employees read people’s DM (Direct Messages).

Twitter Files are serialised in two parts. The files were leaked and published by investigative journalist Bari Weiss through their The Free Press.

First part of the files were released last week. However, the discovery that a former FBI employee was vetting the files delayed the Twitter Files Part 2.

The files reveal that Twitter has been colluding with politicians to ban people or control of information.

One leak suggest that Twitter is able to read people’s DMs. The platform has never claimed to be encrypted like WhatsApp.

Politicians are among those Twitter has been targeting. It is not yet known whether politicians from Malawi are among those targeted.

Twitter is not a popular platform in Malawi. Popular platforms are Facebook and WhatsApp.

Twitter Files also reveal Twitter shadow banning and censoring people. The practice, according to the trove, were given a seal of approval by subsequent CEOs Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal as part of Twitter’s Site Integrity Policy, Policy Escalation Support (SIP – PES).

In 2018, Twitter’s Vijaya Gadde (then Head of Legal Policy and Trust) and Kayvon Beykpour (Head of Product) denied shadow banning people.

They added: “And we certainly don’t shadow ban based on political viewpoints or ideology.”