Newly-elected Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) stated that “Twitter was essentially under heavy FBI influence before Elon Musk’s takeover.”
Johnson assumed the role of House Speaker without opposition from fellow Republicans, as previously reported.
As Speaker, he now holds the power to propose measures aimed at addressing online censorship and preventing legislation that may exacerbate the issue.
During a March hearing on the Twitter Files, Johnson strongly criticized the FBI’s influence on Twitter’s content moderation practices.
The hearing included testimonies from journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, who reported on Twitter Files. Johnson remarked:
The federal government, from Democrat members of Congress to intelligence agencies, including the FBI, used Twitter and other social media companies to censor Americans’ speech.
“If the alarm bells are not going off, then you’re not paying attention.
“The communication between Twitter and the FBI – it was content, it was pervasive.
“Twitter was basically an FBI subsidiary before Elon Musk took it over.”
“Twitter was engaged in open information sharing with the intelligence community, and now we know there were many intelligence agencies apparently involved in this.
“The FBI pressured Twitter to act on election-related tweets leading up to the 2022 election… and Twitter dutifully censored content.”
WATCH:
Extremely concerning https://t.co/UBb6tysLWB
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2023
Johnson’s statements have gained increased visibility on social media since his appointment as Speaker.
A widely followed account, KanekoaTheGreat, shared a video of Johnson’s remarks on the platform.
Elon Musk noticed the post, shared the video, and expressed his concerns, stating, “Extremely concerning.”
