When Twitter made headlines in September, it wasn’t just about President Donald Trump’s tweets or his controversial rhetoric. The social media giant was slammed for a deal it made with the United States government, a move it likely thought would go relatively unnoticed in the midst of its bigger controversial endeavors.
It was reported that Twitter had been “nickel and dimed” by federal agencies for data on private citizens, including the president, that was related to national security. The news came as a shock to many, who felt betrayed that a social media platform meant to be for the public was instead serving the interests of those in power.
According to reports, the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the U.S. Secret Service had all requested data on certain Twitter accounts, including the president’s, in order to investigate a wide range of legal issues.
Twitter, which supposedly had strict guidelines for how it handled government inquiries, was seemingly willing to overlook its own policies when it came to Trump. After all, this wasn’t the first time Trump’s tweets had gotten him into trouble in court. While Twitter had previously refused requests concerning the president from foreign governments, it had apparently allowed requests from the federal government in the US without hesitation.
To make matters worse, not only was Twitter apparently willing to break its own rules, but it also was charging an exorbitant amount of money to the federal government to get the answers it was looking for.
While it’s unclear exactly how much the government was charged, a recent report from the Government Accountability Office found that Twitter provided the federal agencies with data at prices that greatly exceeded the normal market rate. In fact, Twitter was charging nearly three times the going rate for the data it was supplying.
Needless to say, this isn’t the kind of business deal that fans of the free and open Internet expected from one of its biggest companies. The fact that Twitter was willing to violate the privacy rights of its users and grossly overcharge taxpayers’ dollars in order to appease the president’s legal interests is a slap in the face to Americans everywhere, no matter their political affiliations.
As if that weren’t bad enough, Twitter compounded the issue by attempting to conceal its apparent wrongdoings. Evidence suggests that the company tried to keep the news of its practices under wraps for more than a year. The public only came to know about the deal in September due to a congressional inquiry.
It’s hard to forgive Twitter for what it did, as it undoubtedly betrayed the trust of its users and broke its own policies. We can only hope that the company will take steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again and to restore faith in the platform.
