Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
@shellenberger
May 16, 2023 • 28 tweets • 11 min read • Read on X
TWITTER FILES: CENSORSHIP BY TURKISH GOVERNMENT

— Twitter sought compliance with Turkey’s censorship demands long before @elonmusk bought the company

— Twitter transparency surpasses that of @Google & @Meta

— Musk’s harshest critics defend him twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Critics of Twitter are roasting @elonmusk for agreeing to the censorship demands of the Turkish government days before last Sunday’s election.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said Musk should have done what “What Wikipedia did: we stood strong for our principles and fought to the Supreme Court of Turkey and won. This is what it means to treat freedom of expression as a principle rather than a slogan.” Image
But Twitter did exactly that. “We will continue to object in court,” Twitter explained yesterday, “as we have done with all requests, but no further legal action was possible before the start of voting."

"Five court orders have been issued against Twitter regarding these actions and we have already objected to four of them," it wrote. "While one of our objections has been rejected, three of them are still under review. We are filing our objections to the fifth order tomorrow.” Image
Critics say that Musk should have called the government’s bluff and let the government shut off Twitter entirely. I am sympathetic to this view since I think it would be a strong show of force at a time when governments worldwide are cracking down on freedom of speech.
At the same time, Twitter under Musk has been more transparent than any other Internet company, including Twitter pre-Musk, in announcing the government’s censorship.
Yesterday, Twitter released the Turkish court orders and the letter from the government regulator, demanding censorship.

Neither Google, Facebook, or any other Internet company has done so, despite having complied with Turkish censorship demands for at least two years and perhaps longer.
As such, while all of the attention over the last few days has been on Twitter, other Internet companies are being let off the hook.
It wasn't always this way. In 2021, ProPublica reported, “Sheryl Sandberg and Top Facebook Execs Silenced an Enemy of Turkey to Prevent a Hit to the Company’s Business.”

propublica.org/article/sheryl…
And Turkey has cracked down significantly since Wikipedia’s lawsuit in 2019.

In an October 7, 2022, email describing Turkey’s new law, a Twitter executive complained, “Google has been disengaged and intends to comply.” Image
Meta “has been proactive at the highest levels in its efforts to change/delay/derail the law.... However, if the law is passed and their businesses are materially challenged by sanctions, I would expect both companies [Meta + Tik Tok] to find compliance solutions” Image
Moreover, even Musk hater @CaseyNewton concluded in early 2021, based on what had happened in India as well as Turkey, that “whether a social network complies with government requests or challenges them, in the end it will eventually be brought to heel.” ImageImage
And yesterday, @CaseyNewton & @ZoeSchiffer wrote, “On this point [relating to Turkey’s censorship], we can be sympathetic to Musk.... in 2021, before Musk bought the company, Twitter restricted access to various high-profile accounts at the behest of the Indian government." ImageImage
"The rationale for these moves is fairly straightforward: it’s typically better for the cause of speech to have at least some content available," they wrote. "Pakistan banned YouTube outright from 2012 to 2016; when the government relented and allowed it to return, it was largely… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
Indeed, the Twitter Files show that Twitter was in the process of complying with Turkey’s censorship law long before Musk bought the company.
On June 14, 2021, Twitter’s then-deputy legal counsel, Jim Baker, emailed another senior legal executive to say, “we need to: (1) agree to comply (as much as possible) with the 48-hour requirement (which I understand people think is achievable); and (2) agree to cobble together… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
That same month, Twitter's law firm, Shearman and Sterling, sent over a report which described Twitter’s options at length. “The Turkish Government has intermittently blocked access to Twitter, notably during elections and in the wake of arrests of opposition politicians,” noted… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
Shearman didn’t recommend that Twitter continue to pursue the matter in Turkish courts, perhaps because Turkey’s National Assembly passed a new law in reaction to Wikipedia’s Supreme Court victory in early 2020.

“A new social media law adopted in 2020, ‘Law No. 5651’, obliges… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Instead, Shearman recommended Twitter consider international arbitration proceedings, filing a case with the European Court for Human Rights, going to the World Trade Organization, or going to the United Nations.
In August 2021, a Twitter executive emailed Vijaya Gadde, Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust at Twitter, about the legislation the National Assembly would pass in 2022. “President Erdogan has made several statements indicating strong support for more prohibitive social media… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
The executive said Turkey was inspired by the censorship regime of the German government. “The Turkish government says it has formulated the plans for this legislation by conducting an analysis of laws enacted in other countries, particularly Germany’s NetzDG.”
By October 2022, Twitter executives discussed the company’s limited remaining options. “We've been told that the law will go into effect on April 1. The timing of the law is deliberate, as it's widely regarded as a means for the government to exert more control over the public… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
Once again, Facebook caved. "Meta and TikTok both say that they can't see a way to comply with some of the law's requirements, particularly around fully authorised local (Turkish citizen) representation, as they share our concerns around employee safety. However, their views may… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
On November 23, 2022, a Twitter executive wrote an email to senior Twitter executives Senior Legal Counsel for Turkey laying out options. The first two were for complying and the latter proposed taking a legal route. Image
It appears that Twitter under Musk chose the legal route that his critics, including Wikipedia’s Wales, urged. It didn’t work:

What's happening in Turkey must be considered in light of the broader global crackdown, including in Europe.

Tomorrow we will describe the implications of what’s happening in Turkey, Europe, and around the world for people who care about freedom of speech.

/END

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Michael Shellenberger

Michael Shellenberger Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @shellenberger

Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
Mar 20
Free Speech Diplomacy, R.I.P.

March 3, 2025 - March 19, 2025
Was fun while it lasted!
“We must stop censorship and suppression of information.” @SecRubio 💯🎯

I miss that guy
Read 10 tweets
Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
Mar 18
Every single Trump advisor, including and especially @StephenM, knows perfectly well that what they did is unconstitutional.
It's up to the courts not the Administration to determine whether it is non-justiciable. The administration must comply with the order until a higher court reverses it or sets it aside. That's how our system works.
If the Trump administration continues with these obviously unconstitutional actions, then it will lose the legitimacy, public support, and power it needs to pursue free speech diplomacy, which would be a very disappointing outcome @SecRubio @marcorubio

Read 6 tweets
Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
Mar 17
There's no proof of major waste, fraud, or abuse in govt spending, say the media. But there is. And now Public has obtained invoices revealing that a major contractor overcharged the Ed. Dept, paid its CEO $2M/year, and promoted debunked research as student performance declined. Image
US Education Department Contractor Overcharged Taxpayers While Spending Millions On Executive Salaries

As student math and reading scores declined, the American Institute of Research charged 50% in indirect costs and paid its CEO over $2 million

by @galexybrane and @shellenberger

Over the last few weeks, the media and Democrats have been lambasting President Donald Trump for cutting the Department of Education’s research budget. In particular, the media criticized the Trump administration for cutting a contractor’s research into support services for students with disabilities who are nearing graduation.

But it’s not clear that the research was necessary or successful, and there is already both state and federal funding aimed at helping students with disabilities to develop life skills and plans for the future.

And now Public has obtained invoices showing that the Department’s contractor for the research in question, American Institute for Research (AIR), had significantly overcharged the Department in so-called indirect costs.

The invoice is from November 18, 2024, and shows AIR billing the Department $411,961.35 for the month of October 2024. Of that money, $214,952.74 was in “total indirects.” AIR charged an additional $26,950.74 as a 7% fee.

The invoice shows that the cumulative amount that AIR had billed the Department of Education was $10,957,275.73, of which $4,993,376.12 was total indirects and $716,831.18 was total additional fees.

A second invoice is from January 15, 2025, and shows AIR billing the Department $60,913.72 for the month of December 2024. Of that money, $29,685.23 was in total indirects. AIR charged an additional $3,985.01 as a 7% fee.

The invoice shows that the cumulative amount that AIR had billed the Department of Education was $11,076,493.79, of which $5,028,446.77 was total indirects and $724,630.48 was total additional fees.

In response to questions from Public, an AIR spokesperson said, “AIR’s indirect rates are similar to those of other social and behavioral research organizations and we have always abided by our approved rates. For government contractors, indirect costs include such costs as information technology, data security, and compliance and reporting.”

However, 50% in indirect fees is widely considered excessive. The National Institutes of Health recently required that its contractors lower indirect costs to 15% to reduce widespread overcharging.

Indeed, when asked about the invoice, a spokesperson for the Department of Education condemned the high fees. “Contracts with indirect rates over 50% take gross advantage of taxpayer dollars, perverting the reason the contracts exist — our students,” said Department spokesperson Madison Biedermann. “Incoming leadership will no longer allow these unacceptable terms.”

According to AIR’s IRS 990 form, the total compensation of AIR’s chief executive, David Myers, in the most recent year available, 2023, was $2,241,374.

“At the end of 2023, David Myers finished a 14-year tenure as AIR’s President and Chief Executive Officer,” said the AIR spokesperson. “His compensation for his final year included a retention payment. The salary for our current President and CEO is lower and in line with what other non-profit organizations of our size and type pay their chief executives.”

However, AIR’s tax forms showed that Myers earned $2,294,637 in 2022 and $1,145,400 in 2021.

Jessica Heppen is the current president and CEO. In 2023, she earned $685,060 as president. Neither Heppen nor Myers responded to Public’s request for comment.

AIR’s 990 form shows other high salaries for staff and fees for board members. AIR’s Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, earned $931,610 in 2023, and its CFO earned $1,145,400 in 2022. A member of the AIR Board, Robert Boruch, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, received $80,250 in 2023 for just 2 hours of work per week, which is $772 per hour.

While nonprofit board members typically donate their time, 14 of AIR’s board members received hundreds of dollars per hour for their service. None responded to requests by Public for comment.

AIR’s fees should be considered in the broader context of declining student performance and AIR’s role to provide research that improves student performance.

Today, only 31% of fourth graders and only 30% of eighth graders are reading at or above proficiency levels, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In eighth grade reading, 33% of students scored “below basic,” the highest percentage recorded in the NAEP’s history.

Congress established the Education Department in 1979 “to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.”

Student performance has declined across the board over the last 10 years. While Covid school closures significantly worsened them, math and reading scores declined for fourth- and eighth-graders nationwide from 2014 to 2024.

AIR appears to be partly responsible. It gave a favorable evaluation to Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study curriculum, which used elements of the now-debunked “whole language” approach to reading instead of systematic phonics instruction.

Under the whole language approach, teachers taught children to memorize whole words and use guessing strategies instead of sounding out individual sounds in unfamiliar words.

The failure of the whole language approach was precisely why the Department of Education hires groups like AIR. The goal of research is to discover which teaching methods work and which don’t before schools adopt them. That didn’t happen. In fact, the opposite did. The result was a whole generation of children robbed of fundamental literacy.

“It is absolutely inaccurate to say we ‘gave a favorable evaluation’ to Units of Study,” said AIR.

But the evaluation was clearly positive. Implementation of the curriculum, AIR’s report stated, “is associated with improvements in ELA [English Language Arts] achievement starting in the second year of implementation, and in schools that opt to continue with the approach long term, the magnitude of the effects grow larger over time.”

And even AIR noted, in its email to Public, “We found no positive effect in the first year of implementation, then saw positive effects in subsequent years for some schools.”

Other Department contractors had much lower indirect rates. Why was AIR able to charge so much?

If you're not already a subscriber, please subscribe now to support Public's award-winning investigative reporting, read the rest of the article, and watch the full video!

x.com/shellenberger/…
RECEIPTSImage
Image
Read 4 tweets
Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
Mar 16
The former head of the UK's foreign intelligence agency, MI6, told Boris Johnson in early 2020 that the Covid virus escaped from the Wuhan lab. That means that the US, UK, Chinese, & German governments all knew the truth, covered it up, and spread disinformation. Case closed. Image
"It is now beyond reasonable doubt that Covid-19 was engineered in Wuhan Institute of Virology... [China] is now engaged in an information & influence operation (IO) to deflect responsibility....the Journal Nature was used to promulgate the narrative..."

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…
The newly released memo coauthored by the former head of MI6 is focused on how the Nature "Proximal Origin" paper was used to promote China's natural spillover narrative.

We reported in 2023 on hundreds of previously unreleased email and Slack direct messages which cover the period when Kristian Andersen and his colleagues collaborated to write “Proximal Origin."

They show that Andersen and his colleagues clearly thought it was indeed possible not only that the virus that causes Covid-19 had leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but specifically that it had been cultured in the laboratory.

The documents make clear that pressure from “higher ups” — not “additional data, analyses, learning more about coronaviruses, and discussions with colleagues and collaborators” — led Andersen, Garry, and two of their coauthors to abandon the lab leak theory as implausible.

What’s more, the messages reveal that Andersen still suspected that a lab leak was possible in mid-April, a month after Nature Medicine officially published “Proximal Origin,” and two months after the authors published a preprint.

If the paper’s authors weren’t fully convinced that no culturing was possible, why did they rule out “any type of laboratory-based scenario” in their paper?

If the consensus opinion of the scientists across dozens of their initial emails and messages had to be summarized in a single phrase, it would be the name of the Slack channel: “project-wuhan_engineering.”

The name showed just how probable they felt it was that the virus came from a lab.

Then, on February 6, something strange happened. Andersen changed the name of the Slack channel from “project-wuhan_engineering” to “project-wuhan_pangolin.”

x.com/shellenberger/…
Read 4 tweets
Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
Mar 3
Zelensky says he wants the war to end, but he’s not acting like it. Friday he dismissed the US ceasefire as unworkable. Saturday he had European leaders affirm his position. And now he says the end of the war is “very, very far away.” Feels like we’re being played. Image
If Zelensky’s strategy is to alienate the American people, and the president they just elected, one day before he addresses Congress, it’s working. Image
Even The Guardian now gets it:

“On Friday, in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy contested Trump’s stance. The Ukrainian president stated flatly: “We will never accept just [a] ceasefire. It will not work without security guarantees.” Zelenskyy maintained that strong security guarantees had to come from the US, not just Europe. A European military force, he said, would not work unless the US provided a significant backstop: ‘They need USA.’

“In short, Zelenskyy insisted he would not agree to a ceasefire, because Russia would not honor it, unless the US provided precisely what Trump had seemingly already ruled out.Image
Read 4 tweets
Michael Shellenberger Profile picture
Mar 1
Zelenskyy says he’s grateful for US support but he acts entitled to it. He still hasn’t apologized for his behavior. And now he’s demanding the US do more. Zelensky, like Europe, doesn’t respect us. And relationships without mutual respect can’t last. Image
People say The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances in 1994 provided security assurances, but it did not include a binding defense commitment. Even pro-war voices admit the US is not legally obligated to defend Ukraine militarily under the Budapest Memorandum. Image
Image
Image
To the people defending Zelenskyy: watch the full video. His behavior perfectly encapsulates the disrespect, dislike, and even contempt the majority of Europeans hold toward Americans.
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(