Staff Reports
In the 2022 midterm elections, employees of Twitter contributed to Democrats. This shows that despite the company's efforts to be politically neutral, Elon Musk still has a long way to go in making it happen.
According to OpenSecrets, Twitter employees gave over $185,000 to various groups and candidates during the election cycle. Over 99% of the donations went to Democrats, while around 0.27% went to Republicans.
The donations made by Twitter employees to political groups during the 2020 election cycle were significantly different from those made by Republicans. Records show that Democrats received over $909,000 in donations, while Republicans received over $14,000.
In 2018, employees of Twitter gave over $295,000 to political groups, with almost all of the donations going to Democrats.
Since becoming the new CEO of Twitter, Musk has vowed to change the company's landscape. He has also been providing reporters with various internal documents, which have revealed details about how the platform worked with the Biden administration. These documents, which are referred to as the Twitter Files, were acquired by some reporters.
In April, Musk said that Twitter needed to be politically neutral to deserve the trust of the public. This means that it should be able to "upend the far left and the far right equally."
The Twitter Files showed how conservative accounts were "shadow-banned," which is a process that involves partially or even completely blocking a user's access to their content. They also revealed how executives were able to remove Donald Trump from the platform even though he didn't violate the rules.
Despite the company's efforts to be politically neutral, Musk has faced criticism for his decision to suspend several accounts, including those of journalists. This includes CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Intercept.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York, criticized Musk on Thursday, saying that he was a powerful and controversial individual who was abusing his position. She also suggested that he put down his phone. "I get uneasy when you start behaving erratically and banning journalists, which only heightens the intensity around you.
In the past, the donations made by Twitter employees to political groups have remained relatively low compared to those made by Republicans. In 2016, the donations made by Democrats reached almost 60%, while those made by Republicans came in at around 31%.
During the next Congress, House Republicans will be looking into how Twitter has been using censorship tactics. One of the members of the committee that will be handling the investigation is Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
She noted that during previous hearings, Big Tech claimed that they weren't blocking people's access to their platforms. However, the new Twitter Files have revealed that this was not the case.
In response to the revelations, "McMorris Rodgers said that the committee would continue to monitor how Big Tech was affecting the country."
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Washington Examiner.
