Jan. 6 Twitter witness: Failure to curb Trump spurred 'terrifying' choice

[brooklynite]

Source: Washington Post

In an explosive hearing in July, an unidentified former Twitter employee testified to the House Jan. 6 committee that the company had tolerated false and rule-breaking tweets from Donald Trump for years because executives knew their service was his “favorite and most-used … and enjoyed having that sort of power.”

Now, in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, the whistleblower, Anika Collier Navaroli, reveals the terror she felt about coming forward and how eventually that fear was overcome by her worry that extremism and political disinformation on social media pose an “imminent threat not just to American democracy, but to the societal fabric of our planet.”

“I realize that by being who I am and doing what I’m doing, I’m opening myself and my family to extreme risk,” Navaroli said. “It’s terrifying. This has been one of the most isolating times of my life.”

“I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t believe the truth matters,” she said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/22/jan6-committee-twitter-witness-navaroli/

[erronis]

1. twitter is just another for-profit org trying to maximize $s for its owners.

Venture capitalists, vultures, equity funds, patent lawyers, acquisition specialists, etc.

None of them care about the ethics of what their doing. Their brains and hearts are wired to maximize financial returns.

Bezos, trump, musk, oligarchs all.

[Cha]

4. Thank Goodness Twitter finally

Banned DT, though and a few others.

And another plus for Twitter is we find out news and can spread it that the US m$$m covers up!

[erronis]

7. You're right, Cha - we can find news that isn't in MSM, but there is also way too much

misinformation and vitriol and personal attacks.

The 'bots use these platforms to spread and amplify messages. And I think most of these types of messages are coming from people that aren't our friends.

[Cha]

14. So I've heard.. But I miss all that

because I only go there to Rt & 💕Tweets I see on DU that Help Save Our Democracy.

I don't reply to anyone except those I want to help.

erronis

[Joinfortmill]

2. We're in this mess because people never did the right thing

[Cha]

3. Good on Anika Collier Navaroli! She's

exactly right!

[YoshidaYui]

5. Good for her

I would have actively pursued getting the asshole banned from Twitter.

[BigmanPigman]

6. Ha! Thank you for the affirmation!!

I have NEVER used Twitter or Fakebook. I have lived my life without either of them and am basically a well informed person. I have never felt any desire to even begin to join either of them. No one in my family or circle of friends seems to be bothered by not communicating in this way. Maybe I am Old School and am a tech moron.

When I Iearned that something called "Cambrige Anylitica" and the Mercers and Bannon were involved in manipulating social
media for Right Wing political gain in 2017 I KNEW I had made the right choice by limiting the sources of my information..NOT misinformation or disinformation. Cambridge Anylitica went belly up right after this corruption surfaced the same year.

"Publicly, parent company SCL Group called itself a "global election management agency",[48] Politico reported it was known for involvement "in military disinformation campaigns to social media branding and voter targeting".[18] SCL gained work on a large number of campaigns for the US and UK governments' War on Terror advancing their model of behavioral conflict during the 2000s.[49] SCL's involvement in the political world has been primarily in the developing world where it has been used by the military and politicians to study and manipulate public opinion and political will. Slate writer Sharon Weinberger compared one of SCL's hypothetical test scenarios to fomenting a coup.[18]

Among the investors in Cambridge Analytica were some of the Conservative Party's largest donors such as billionaire Vincent Tchenguiz, former Conservative minister Jonathan Marland, Baron Marland, Roger Gabb,[50] the family of American hedge fund manager Robert Mercer,[16] and Steve Bannon.[51] A minimum of 15 million dollars has been invested into the company by Mercer, according to The New York Times.[52] Bannon's stake in the company was estimated at 1 to 5 million dollars, but he divested his holdings in April 2017 as required by his role as White House Chief Strategist.[53] In March 2018, Jennifer Mercer and Rebekah Mercer became directors of Emerdata limited.[54] In March 2018 it became public by Christopher Wylie, that Cambridge Analytica's first activities were founded on a data set, which its parent company SCL bought 2014 from a company named Global Science Research founded by Aleksandr Kogan and his team present across the world [55] who worked as a psychologist at Cambridge. Dr Emma Briant, an academic at University of Essex had researched the firm and the parent company SCL interviewing employees as part of her research on political propaganda and her 2015 book 'Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism.'[49] During the revelations she published evidence through the British Parliament's Fake News Inquiry indicating that Cambridge Analytica did work for the UK's LeaveEU Brexit campaign during the 2016 EU Referendum which they denied.[56][57] The Information Commissioner's Office in February 2019 decided to audit the campaign, and its funder Arron Banks company Eldon Insurance for unlawful marketing involving repurposing of data.[58] In November 2020 the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham MP wrote that she "found no further evidence to change [her] earlier view that SCL/CA were not involved in the EU referendum campaign in the U.K." Denham also said she found no evidence of Russian involvement in the referendum.[59] During Boris Johnson's tenure as foreign secretary, the Foreign Office sought advice from Cambridge Analytica[60] and Boris Johnson had a meeting with Alexander Nix in 2016.[60][61]"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica

[llmart]

10. You are not alone.

I have never saw any need for Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Tik Tok. I will admit that I was a bit peeved at DU when posters began reposting tweets, especially the Orange Blob's tweets. I stopped going on DU at first. I couldn't believe we were sinking to that level. But here we are. I happen to believe that social media isn't true communication and that it is detrimental to our society.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Yup, we learned all about Cambridge Analytica here on DU - and then the whistleblower

So those of us on DU were warned what sites were dangerous and to avoid.

[Evolve Dammit]

8. A true hero Ms. Navaroli. America owes you protection and our sincere thanks for your courage. nt

[rubbersole]

9. Yep. Wishing her all the best.

[Evolve Dammit]

12. It really takes a selfless, tremendous courage to step forward. Local, state or Federal.

[rubbersole]

13. A massive personal risk. Courage doesn't do it justice.

Especially in today's climate.

[Maraya1969]

15. NO PAYWALL HERE

https://archive.ph/cNxw9