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Former Twitter Employee's Testimony Is an Urgent Call for Social-Media Platforms to 'Fix the Feed'
During today's House Select Committee hearing investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, an anonymous former Twitter employee testified that they had attempted for weeks in 2020 to get the platform to do something about the calls to violence occurring on the network following a series of tweets from then-President Trump.
The Trump tweets -- and in particular one from Dec. 19, 2020, in which Trump called on people to come to Washington on Jan. 6 when things "will be wild" -- incited people to respond that they were "locked and loaded" and ready to answer the president's call.
WASHINGTON
During today's House Select Committee hearing investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, an anonymous former Twitter employee testified that they had attempted for weeks in 2020 to get the platform to do something about the calls to violence occurring on the network following a series of tweets from then-President Trump.
The Trump tweets -- and in particular one from Dec. 19, 2020, in which Trump called on people to come to Washington on Jan. 6 when things "will be wild" -- incited people to respond that they were "locked and loaded" and ready to answer the president's call.
Trump "was speaking directly to extremist organizations and giving them directives. We had not seen that sort of direct communication before," the former employee testified in a recording shown during the hearing. "I came to the reality," the witness said, "... if [Twitter] made no intervention into what I saw, people are going to die, and on Jan. 5 I realized that no intervention is coming."
On Jan. 8, Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account. But according to the witness, the company knew for quite some time prior to the Jan. 6 attack that the former president's tweets had incited numerous calls for a violent insurrection to stop the peaceful transfer of power. The former Twitter employee testified that until Jan. 8 the company had used a light hand against Trump. "Twitter relished in the knowledge," they testified, "that they were also the favorite and most used service of the former president and enjoyed having that sort of power."
Nora Benavidez, Free Press senior counsel and director of digital justice and civil rights, said:
"Today's shocking whistleblower testimony confirms what many of us have known for years: Big Tech has repeatedly failed to rein in calls to violence on their platforms. We need to view the entire testimony from this former Twitter employee so we can fully understand the company's role in fomenting the kinds of violence that threatened to overthrow democracy in the United States and seat an authoritarian regime in its place.
"Twitter -- and other social-media companies -- must stop shirking responsibility, especially as the country prepares for another national election. Free Press and our allies in the Change the Terms coalition have outlined a series of steps Twitter and other platforms -- including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube -- must take to 'Fix the Feed' and stop amplifying the worst content on their platforms. Companies must fix their algorithms so they stop promoting calls to violence, staff up their moderating capacity so that such content is flagged and dealt with before it spreads, and be transparent with researchers and others about their content-moderation practices and algorithms.
"Until Twitter and other platforms take these demands seriously and fix their feeds, we will continue to see online calls to violence spill over into real-world bloodshed."
Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities.
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Sanders Plans Vote on Resolutions Blocking US Arms Sales to Israel
"There is no longer any doubt that Netanyahu's extremist government is in clear violation of U.S. and international law as it wages a barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza."
Nov 13, 2024
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Wednesday his intention to bring a floor vote on resolutions aimed at blocking a series of proposed arms sales to the Israeli government as it wages a war on Palestinians in Gaza that is the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case.
In September, Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced half a dozen joint resolutions of disapproval—which were backed by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)—to stop an approved $20 billion arms sale package to Israel. Sanders explained at the time that "there is a mountain of documentary evidence demonstrating that these weapons are being used in violation of U.S. and international law."
The resolutions could block transfers of U.S. weapons to the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs), tanks, and artillery shells, which have been linked to indiscriminate and disproportionate Palestinian civilian casualties.
Although the Biden administration has repeatedly determined that Israel's use of U.S.-supplied arms does not violate the law, numerous rights groups and legal experts around the world, progressive U.S. lawmakers including Sanders, and some State Department officials have vehemently rejected these findings. Israel's 13-month assault on Gaza has left more than 156,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing. Millions more are suffering starvation, disease, and forced displacement, and much of the embattled coastal enclave has been reduced to ruins.
"There is no longer any doubt that Netanyahu's extremist government is in clear violation of U.S. and international law as it wages a barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza," Sanders said Wednesday. "Out of a population of 2.2 million, over 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and 102,000 injured—60% percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people. Israel has destroyed 70% of the housing in Gaza, the civilian infrastructure, the healthcare system, and hundreds of schools. It has bombed every one of Gaza's 12 universities."
Sanders continued:
As horrific as the last year has been, the current situation is even worse. Today, Israel continues to restrict the flow of food and medicine to desperate people. Tens of thousands of Palestinians face malnutrition and starvation. The volume of aid reaching Gazans is lower than at any time in the last year. Blocking humanitarian aid violates the Foreign Assistance Act as well as the Geneva Convention.
This war has been conducted almost entirely with American weapons and $18 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars. Israel has dropped U.S.-provided 2,000-pound bombs into crowded neighborhoods, killed hundreds of civilians to take out a handful of Hamas fighters, and made little effort to distinguish between civilians and combatants. These actions are immoral and illegal.
"The United States cannot continue to be complicit in this war by supplying more military aid and weaponry to the Netanyahu government," Sanders stressed. "Congress must act to block these arms sales."
As of Wednesday, nearly 100 groups urged Democratic U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer—the majority leader—and Kirsten Gillibrand, both of New York, to "co-sponsor and vote in favor" of the Sanders-led resolutions.
"The Senate will soon have the opportunity to demonstrate that it opposes further suffering and stands for the rule of law and the protection of civilians by supporting the joint resolutions," the groups argued.
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Trump Cabinet of Villains Grows With Gabbard for DNI, Gaetz for AG
"The most adept satirist could not create a more shameful lineup of Cabinet secretaries," said one critic.
Nov 13, 2024
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continued to stoke global fears for the future on Wednesday by announcing more picks for top leadership positions in his next administration: former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Republican Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
The president-elect also confirmed his widely reported plan to name Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of state. The Associated Pressnoted that "the choices continued a pattern of Trump stocking his Cabinet with loyalists he believes he can trust to execute his agenda rather than longtime officials with experience in their fields."
The announcements have provoked comparisons to blockbuster villains. One social media user quipped that "Trump's Cabinet is shaping up like Dr. Evil's collection of henchmen," while Justin Jones—a Tennessee Democrat expelled from the state Legislature over a gun violence protest but then reinstated last year—pointed to Voldemort, the leading antagonist in the Harry Potter book and film series.
Gabbard was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq as a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard. She represented the state as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021. During the 2020 cycle, Gabbard launched a longshot presidential bid but ultimately backed President Joe Biden. The "dark horse" ditched the Democratic Party in 2022 and, as Politicoput it, "became a fixture in conservative media." After endorsing Trump in August, she hit the campaign trail.
The ex-congresswoman, who officially joined the Republican Party last month, has been a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy. Opponents of her selection on Wednesday highlighted her history of being "extremely sympathetic" to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen called her forthcoming nomination "a coup for the Kremlin."
Paul Eaton, a retired U.S. Army major general and a senior adviser to VoteVets, said in a statement that "putting Tulsi Gabbard in charge of our intelligence, which keeps Americans safe here and abroad, is dangerous and reckless. In Gabbard, Trump has a complete and total loyalist who will use and wield our intelligence to Trump's benefit, not to protect America and our Constitution."
"In combination with many of Trump's other appointments and nominations, we see a picture coming together of an administration made up of unqualified, marginal zealots who will constantly be trying to please their leader rather than fulfill their oath to put the Constitution and the safety of the American people above the president's ego," he added. "Many warned that Trump would dispense of all guardrails in a second term, so every whim of his would be carried out without question or protest. We are now seeing exactly what that looks like."
Journalists and other political observers were quick to note that Gabbard and Gaetz would be "tough" nominees to get even a Republican-controlled Senate to confirm.
"Oh, for f*ck's sake," Food & Water Watch managing director of policy and litigation Mitch Jones said of Gaetz's selection. "The Senate should overwhelmingly reject this nomination."
However, there are mounting fears Trump will try to force through his most controversial picks—including Pete Hegseth, the Army veteran, lobbyist for war criminals, and "Fox & Friends" host set to lead the Pentagon—with recess appointments.
Economics reporter Joseph Zeballos-Roig wrote on social media Wednesday that "Trump nominating Gaetz, Gabbard, and Hegseth in a 24-hour period for key government posts suggests he doesn't see limits for what a GOP Senate will swallow."
Recalling a historic lie from one of Trump's former press secretaries, New York Times opinion columnist Ezra Klein said: "Demanding Senate Republicans back Gaetz as attorney general and Hegseth as defense secretary is the 2024 version of forcing Sean Spicer to say it was the largest inauguration crowd ever. These aren't just appointments. They're loyalty tests. The absurdity is the point."
"It also reflects a difference between Trump in 2020 and Trump in 2024: In 2020, Trump didn't have the pull with Senate Republicans... to impose this kind of loyalty test," Klein added. "He didn't even have it with many of his own appointees. Now, well, we'll see."
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) declared that "Matt Gaetz is unconfirmable, he is the canary in the recess appointment coal mine."
Gaetz is a Trump loyalist known for ousting former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last year. Some of his critics on Wednesday directed attention to an ongoing House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of sex trafficking. A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation ended with no charges and the congressman has denied any wrongdoing.
The president-elect is particularly hostile toward the Department of Justice, due to the two federal cases he faced for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden and taking classified materials to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resident.
"Trump's desire to nominate Gaetz for attorney general marks an effort to simultaneously degrade and weaponize the DOJ, subverting its mission of principled, nonpartisan law enforcement while punishing those who pursued charges against Trump (and, perhaps, against Gaetz himself)," wroteSlate's Mark Joseph Stern.
"It is a shocking choice, surely by design, that reflects an obvious desire to corrupt the agency from the top down," he added. "If Gaetz is confirmed, it's no exaggeration to say that the Justice Department will be permanently damaged, as civil servants flee (or face termination), partisan loyalists take their place, and the entire agency reorients around settling old scores against Trump's perceived enemies."
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, similarly warned in a Wednesday statement that the graduate of William & Mary Law School "would lead a vengeful, authoritarian, and lawless Department of Justice."
"As a member of Congress, Gaetz has demonstrated contempt for the rule of law, truth, and decency," Weissman asserted. "He is singularly unqualified to lead an agency that enforces civil rights laws and environmental protection statutes. Under Gaetz, we'd have every reason to expect an America where corporate criminals walk free but immigrants and people of color are harassed or rounded up with minimal pretext."
Drop Site News' Ryan Grim acknowledged that Gaetz is "good" on some issues—like press freedom and surveillance—but critics like Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón stressed that he "has consistently worked against democracy and accountability."
On January 6, 2021, Gaetz "supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election and has since continued to shield those who attempted to subvert our democratic processes," Kase Solomón said. "His anti-voter agenda includes pushing legislation that would strip eligible voters from the rolls, even threatening government shutdowns to enforce voter suppression. Beyond that, his rhetoric and actions reveal a troubling history of encouraging violence against racial justice protesters and promoting dangerous white supremacist ideologies. This is not a candidate who values equality, justice, or the rights of all Americans."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced that Gaetz resigned from Congress Wednesday evening, allegedly due to concerns over accumulating too many absences. AP 's Farnoush Amiri reported that "the House Ethics Committee's ongoing probe into allegations of child sex trafficking ends as does his tenure, and no report will be issued."
In addition to Gaetz, Gabbard, Hegseth, and Rubio, Trump has chosen GOP South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for homeland security secretary, former Congressman John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) for Central Intelligence Agency director, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for United Nations ambassador, and ex-Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) for Environmental Protection Agency administrator.
Trump has also selected multiple people whose posts don't require Senate confirmation: former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan for "border czar," first-term adviser Stephen Miller for deputy chief of staff for policy, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) for national security adviser, and longtime GOP strategist Susie Wiles for White House chief of staff.
The president-elect further announced Tuesday that billionaire campaign surrogates Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the yet-to-be-created Department of Government Efficiency to gut regulations and federal agencies.
Meanwhile, to track and challenge the incoming administration's attacks, the watchdog Accountable.US on Wednesday announced the Trump Accountability War Room and two Democrats launched Governors Safeguarding Democracy.
This post has been updated to include Rep. Matt Gaetz's resignation from Congress.
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Cori Bush Calls On Biden to Protect Reproductive Rights With ERA
"President Biden has two months," said the congresswoman.
Nov 13, 2024
With just over two months to go until U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to take all the action he can to protect reproductive rights from Republican leader who has bragged about his role in ensuring Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Biden "must immediately direct the archivist of the United States to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment which can protect access to abortion care and contraception," said the Missouri Democrat, who co-chairs the Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Bush's call comes more than a year after the congresswoman and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the ERA Now Resolution, urging Colleen Shogan, the archivist of the United States, to certify state ratifications of the amendment and publish it in the Federal Register, which would formally cement it as part of the U.S. Constitution.
First introduced 101 years ago, the ERA would guarantee legal equality for women and men in the U.S. It could push judges to overturn anti-abortion rights laws on the basis that they violate a constitutional right to gender equality. In Utah, a state-level ERA has successfully blocked an abortion ban.
Since first being proposed, the ERA was passed by Congress in 1972 and sent to the states for ratification. Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it in 2020, meeting the threshold for it to become law.
"Today the ERA has met all the constitutional requirements to become the 28th Amendment—all that's standing in the way is some paperwork," said Bush in July on the anniversary of the ERA's introduction. "As Republicans and the Supreme Court's extremist majority continue to attack access to abortion care, contraception, and LGBTQ+ rights, the ERA is needed now more than ever to protect our communities. I'm urging the archivist to fulfill her ministerial duty by certifying and publishing the Equal Rights Amendment and affirming it as the 28th Amendment."
The overturning of Roe in 2022 paved the way for at least 21 states to ban or restrict abortion care. Republicans in Congress have proposed a nationwide 15-week abortion ban. Trump has claimed he would not sign a national ban but Vice President-elect JD Vance has expressed support for one.
"There is always the possibility of a national ban," Brittany Fonteno, president of the National Abortion Federation, toldThe Cut on Wednesday.
In her July statement, Bush said that "one hundred and one years of advocacy have brought us to this moment, and we refuse to wait a minute longer to cement constitutional gender equality as the law of the land in St. Louis, Missouri, and across the nation."
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