The Facts
Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Saturday backed the release of "Twitter Files 4.0," the fourth installment of a series of confidential internal communications between the platform's senior executives before the Tesla owner took over.
Part four of the Twitter Files — a Musk initiative to show how Twitter's previous leadership allegedly stifled free speech — was released through independent journalist Michael Shellenberger.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
There's no doubt that Musk's ostensibly apolitical gesture of transparency is aiding a partisan messaging campaign. The previous Twitter Files could neither disclose how the GOP candidates were blacklisted nor indicate how the suppression of Hunter Biden's story created a constitutional crisis. The documents have so far failed to provide evidence of the previous management's political bias. Yet, they offer substantial insight into how Musk uses the platform to promote tendentious, partisan narratives.
Republican narrative
Elon Musk is doing the country a favor by releasing Democratic secrets for every US citizen to examine. The Twitter Files have exposed political corruption, proven that shadow banning was real, and described how conservatives were often caught in the crossfire. Instead of dismissing the documents as boneheaded statements, the government and US intelligence officials must analyze them to protect national security, avert election theft, and safeguard freedom of speech.