Pete Hegseth says Musk Twitter shadow ban bombshell blows lid off entire history of censorship
Hegseth said he was banned on Twitter who accused him of 'disseminating terrorist information'
Fox News’s Pete Hegseth reacts to the latest development of the 'Twitter Files' revealing that the company was censoring the accounts of notable Conservatives on ‘Varney & Co.’
Late Thursday, Elon Musk released the second installment of the "Twitter Files," which further exposed the company's ill-intended operation of unfairly "shadow banning" accounts – a malicious censorship practice that Fox News' Pete Hegseth says he's fallen victim to.
ELON MUSK'S SECOND INSTALLMENT OF 'TWITTER FILES' REVEALS 'SECRET BLACKLISTS,' BARI WEISS REPORTS
Hegseth said his account was off limits for reposting the manifesto of an Islamic terrorist in an effort to pull back the curtain and reveal the motivations behind such an evil individual. After multiple attempts to find out why his account was banned, Twitter accused him of "disseminating terrorist information."
When FOX Business "Varney & Co." host Stuart Varney asked whether he believes the Musk bombshell "blows the lid off the whole history of censorship," Hegseth replied: "It does!"
"It exposes what was almost self-evident, but completely denied," he continued. "In front of Congress Twitter, under oath, would say we don't shadow ban. We don't take a political point of view on our users," Hegseth continued. "They basically say, well, unless you delete that tweet, you're not allowed back on. It's extortion."
Fox News host Pete Hegseth discusses how he was banned from Twitter during an interview on "Varney & Co." (John Lamparski / Getty Images)
Hegseth was not the only Conservative unfairly targeted by Twitter. Turning Point USA founder and "Unfiltered" host Dan Bongino were also reportedly placed on the list.
"Charlie Kirk to Dan Bongino to Libs of TikTok to doctors at Stanford," he said, "it was one particular direction on the political persuasion and a lot of it had to do with COVID – COVID so-called misinformation."
Hegseth pointed out that Twitter used "technicalities" to determine whether a post should be suppressed. If the Tweet could be a "public harm" or cause harm to someone eventually, the post would be shadow banned or deleted, as if "speech is violence."
"That's what they did to me," he explained. "I reposted the words of a terrorist – an Islamic terrorist who wrote a manifesto… Just to show the motives of why these people do what they do… I was accused of disseminating terrorist information."
Fox News’ Dan Bongino provides analysis of Elon Musk’s decision to expose Twitter for their suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.’
Hegseth continued "guys like Dan Bongino and Charlie Kirk" have been fighting back "every day" against that "headwind of Twitter." And despite being muted they still have "massive followings."
"That's a threat to people who want total control," he said adding that "this blows the lid off of Twitter, but it doesn't change the rest of social media."
NY Post columnist Miranda Devine reacts to the shocking information being unveiled by Elon Musk in his second edition of the ‘Twitter Files’ on ‘Mornings with Maria.’
Hegseth went on to say that he believes the latest release of "Twitter Files" was not as significant as the first and hopes the next "ties back to the FBI's involvement."
"That's the real scandal here," he said.
The third installment of Musk's "Twitter Files" is not confirmed.