A new edition of the 'Twitter Files' questions the independence of the social network under the Biden Administration

Journalist Paul Thacker released a new edition of the famous 'Twitter Files' on his X account, where he elaborated in a lengthy thread to question the independence of the aforementioned social network under the Biden Administration. Thacker details a triangle between the social network, the State Department, and a company founded by Madeleine Albright, who served as Secretary of State during part of Bill Clinton's administration.

"Democrats and the media claimed that Twitter 1.0 was a 'private company' that made its own decisions, despite pressure from the Biden Administration to censor," is how the journalist began his publication, which did not take long to go viral.

"How can a company rely on government advice and help make decisions independently of that same government?"

Indeed, he explains that, during the first months of the Joe Biden administration, Twitter hired a "commercial diplomacy and global strategic advisory services" firm, the Albright Stonebridge Group, to " seek the State Department's help in dealing with India's censorship pressure."

As POLITICO reported, the organization contributed at least ten veterans to key positions in the Biden Administration.

To resolve a conflict in India, Twitter sought the help of the Albright Stonebridge Group, from where they reached out to the State Department. According to Thacker, this casts doubt on those who claim that "Twitter did not collude with federal agencies and was free from pressure from the Biden administration to make its own censorship decisions."

The group then contacted Deputy Assistant Secretary for South Asia Laura Stone. It was the senior vice president, John Hughes, who asked Stone if she was available to join a breakfast club with the global head of public policy, Monique Meche, to "avoid any further escalation" with India.

"India's censorship of social media drove Twitter into the arms of a lobby of foreign policy experts working in the Biden administration. How can a company rely on government advice and help make decisions independently of that same government," he added.

Stacey Plaskett, a delegate to Congress from the British Virgin Islands and ranking member of the House Federal Government Armament Subcommittee, had asserted that "the actual evidence showed that there was no coordination between Twitter and the Federal Government."Stacey Plaskett, a delegate to Congress from the British Virgin Islands and ranking member of the House Federal Government Armament Subcommittee, had asserted that "the actual evidence showed that there was no coordination between Twitter and the Federal Government.

"That's just ridiculous. Twitter relied heavily on the advice and assistance of the Biden administration and its allied lobbyists to manage problems in India, Twitter's third-largest market," Thacker shot back.

According to a mail dated May 24, 2021, Stone was asked to meet with government officials "again for an update" on India's actions against Twitter.

As Meche Stone told him, Stone continued on "emergency blocking orders" for the removal of more than 100 tweets critical of the government's response to the Coronavirus. Stone then responded that the State Department was trying to contact the embassy for more details.

This, in turn, led to an extensive exchange of messages between Twitter and State Department staff, resulting in a call to expedite communication. Both Stone and Kara McDonald, deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor, participated.

Both were later nominated by President Biden as ambassadors and subsequently won their respective Senate confirmations.