Elon Musk says FBI 'obviously overreached' with regard to online censorship
The FBI said a $3.5 million payment to Twitter was a 'reimbursement' for a range of matters
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Elon Musk on Friday said the FBI "obviously overreached" with respect to online censorship over the agency's alleged efforts to censor certain content.
Musk made the claim in response to a user who said Twitter accounts operated by conservatives were being suspended for speaking out against the speech made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who spoke before Congress this week to appeal for more military aid to support its ongoing war with Russia.
"REPORT: Conservative Twitter accounts are apparently being suspended for speaking out against Zelensky’s speech last night," Collin Rugg tweeted. "Is the FBI still working at Twitter @elonmusk?"
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"To be clear, I am overall very much pro FBI. The agency does a great deal of important work protecting the public," Musk replied. "That said, no organization is perfect and part of the FBI obviously overreached with respect to online censorship."
The FBI has come under scrutiny from some who allege the law enforcement agency ordered Twitter to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story and censor other content. Internal Twitter communications released by Musk have furthered those claims.
An installment of the Twitter Files found the agency regularly contacted employees at Twitter to flag accounts that were deemed as spreading "misinformation."
Elon Musk said the FBI overreached its authority with respect to online censorship, the Twitter boos said Friday. (Muhammed Selim Korkutata / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
"It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency," the FBI wrote in a response.
Former Rolling Stone journalist and Substack writer Matt Taibbi shared hidden communications between Twitter and FBI employees in the days surrounding the contentious 2020 presidential election. The viral Twitter thread revealed several posts that the FBI flagged as concerning for Twitter employees.
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Taibbi related a tweet from one of the accounts on Nov. 8: "I want to remind republicans to vote tomorrow, Wednesday November 9."
Another tweet flagged by the FBI was an apparent joke about voting times: "Americans, Vote today. Democrats you vote Wednesday 9th."
Fox News' Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.