First Amendment

The Alex Berenson Twitter Files

Alex Berenson, who sued to get back onto Twitter last year, now can reveal that Twitter’s legal department was not confident of prevailing.

Published

11 months ago

June 3, 2023

Terry A. Hurlbut

Two days ago, for the first time, a Twitter Files journalist released a thread concerning … himself. Alex Berenson suffered a ban in the summer of 2021, and sued Twitter, alleging breach of contract. Twitter settled last year and restored the account. Now, for the first time, he reveals internal memoranda and other documents from Twitter’s own lawyers, discussing his case. Those discussions revealed that Twitter’s legal department very much feared that they would lose.

Alex Berenson got banned because…

In the summer of 2021, shortly after the COVID vaccines became available, Alex Berenson sounded an alarm about them.

It doesn’t stop infection.
Or transmission.

Don’t think of it as a vaccine.

Think of it – at best – as a therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS.

And we want to mandate it?
Insanity.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) August 28, 2021

In the years since, many reputable epidemiologists have had to bear out almost every statement he made. But back then, Twitter was in the grip of its original censorship regime, and he had challenged the narrative. Which was one thing Twitter could not then tolerate – hence the ban.

Twitter settled the case of Berenson v. Twitter, apparently to avoid pre-trial discovery. Jay Bhattacharya, who of course has his own lawsuit pending against the Biden administration, shared these insights:

In Berenson v. Twitter, Twitter 1.0 settled with Alex to avoid releasing these documents. The Biden administration used Twitter 1.0 to violate Alex's civil rights.

The House committee considering Section 230 reform should obtain these documents to inform its proceedings.
2/2— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) June 2, 2023

In answer to that last recommendation, Berenson suggested Elon Musk, as the new owner, should release the documents himself.

The documents showing Twitter's internal deliberations about my censorship WILL come out, one way or another. @jlawrencenc and I are already talking next steps.

But ideally @elonmusk just releases them quickly – they are the logical next step in the #twitterfiles… https://t.co/oJASuoZEgt— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 2, 2023

He also clarified that his difficulties are with the old Twitter legal team – including the infamous Jim Baker.

It's not because they liked me or my views on Covid and vaccines, either. @thejimbaker was such a ninny he wanted to censor @realDonaldTrump's "Don't Be Afraid Of Covid" tweet.https://t.co/XSMurasl0B— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 2, 2023

Once Elon Musk realized the sort of man Jim Baker was, he fired him. This happened after the release of the first Twitter files installment. Thereafter, further releases were far more informative. (Baker’s name also figures prominently in the Durham Report.)

Shortly after dropping the thread, Alex Berenson speculated that the legacy or “elite” media would never want to cover it.

I know the elite media will ignore this #twitterfiles like it's ignored all the rest, but putting the politics aside, IT'S A GREAT STORY.

Nobody ever – EVER – sees a company's internal litigation strategies in high-stakes suits like this. They are locked away forever… https://t.co/ik7jCZp2gF— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

It really is a shame that the elite media and #lawtwitter (which leans so far left it can't even stand up) is so politically blinkered that it can't just view this as a great legal story, if nothing else.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

The thread

Herewith the twenty-nine-tweet thread, as the odd numbers:

#TwitterFiles @elonmusk
1/ URGENT: Twitter's own lawyers believed the company could not successfully defend its Covid vaccine censorship policies against my lawsuit over its 2021 ban of my account. pic.twitter.com/EZn846Xu8h— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

3/ The documents, whose details remain secret but which the lawyers called “problematic” and “sensitive,” also show Twitter’s most senior executives disagreed over its decision to censor me in the summer of 2021.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

5/ That issue is central to Berenson v Biden, my new lawsuit against the @WhiteHouse and @Pfizer for allegedly conspiring to violate my First Amendment rights by coercing Twitter to ban me.

It also impacts Missouri v Biden, about broader federal social media censorship efforts. pic.twitter.com/OnsiLDSDI9— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

7/ Twitter's lawyers mention the documents in two separate email chains in 2022. The chains, which include Twitter’s then-general counsel, Sean Edgett, were given to me by Michael Shellenberger. @shellenberger found them in Twitter’s records during his Twitter Files reporting.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

9/ But it abruptly reversed course in summer 2021, after federal officials demanded censorship and @JoeBiden said social media companies were “killing people” by allowing their users to question the shots.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

11/ I sued Twitter four months later in federal court in San Francisco, alleging it had broken its own rules and violated my rights when it banned me.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

13/ Karen Colangelo, Twitter’s head of global litigation, and Micah Rubbo, associate director for litigation, reached that conclusion after reviewing Twitter’s internal discussions about my ban, the May 2022 email chain shows.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

15/ My settlement remains secret (though I have asked @ElonMusk, who bought Twitter in October 2022, after the settlement was reached, for the right to publish it).— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

17/ The company faced a stark choice, Rubbo concluded in analyzing a potential settlement: “Are we willing to litigate and risk the potential public disclosure of *many* documents in order to prevent disclosure of some of them now?”— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

19/ The company was very concerned with giving me special protection, according to the email chain. But it ultimately believed it could find a solution by offering me access to a neutral arbitrator.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

21/ In a separate August 2022 email, Rubbo explained the documents Twitter kept secret in the settlement with me reveal “debate and disagreement” among Twitter’s “leadership” over its censorship decisions. pic.twitter.com/ylPrNJEE1H— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

23/ The May and August email chains became available because of Musk’s decision to open Twitter’s internal records to journalists to reveal the political and censorship pressures Twitter has faced. Those records and the articles about them are generally called the Twitter Files.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

25/ The documents Twitter provided to me in the settlement last year showed that both the White House and Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb pressured the company to censor me over my reporting. pic.twitter.com/qxR4W67BJf— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

27/ But the newly revealed emails from Twitter’s lawyers suggest that when it turned over documents to me last year, Twitter used the narrowest possible definition.— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

29/ If those documents exist, Twitter’s lawyers viewed them as outside the settlement and did not disclose them, keeping me from seeing them.

For now.

/END#TwitterFiles @elonmusk— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 1, 2023

Worth noting is that Twitter, shortly after Elon Musk took it over, abruptly rescinded its COVID Medical Misinformation Policy.

In reaction, several users expressed their good wishes. One referred to the case of Jamie Foxx, an actor now “partially paralyzed and blind” from a likely vaccine injury.

Two other users discussed possible manipulation at other tech companies. For example, Google is known to have its human staff interfere with its algorithm from time to time.

There have been multiple articles about Google manipulating search results going back at least as far as the 2016 election. Try a SwissCows search for "google manipulating algorithm." This is one of many results:https://t.co/2h3I6pnRvx— Robert Bruce Willsie (@bobw222) June 1, 2023

Analysis

Twitter’s treatment of Alex Berenson was, unfortunately, typical of its treatment of anyone who questioned the COVID narrative. (And other narratives besides.) What is not typical is that Berenson fought back and scored at least a partial victory. The revelations of the past forty-eight hours show that Twitter was on unsound ground with its ban. They knew it, or they would not have settled. One wonders how many other users could have broken the censorship regime even before Elon Musk bought the platform. How if all those others had filed their own lawsuits – or banded together to file a class action?

As Alex Berenson indicates, most of the documentary evidence of the motives for their treatment of him remains hidden. It will be left to Elon Musk to decide to un-hide it.

Sadly, Twitter has troublemakers on its Trust and Safety staff even today. This became abundantly clear when, also on June 1, Twitter canceled its plan to premiere Matt Walsh’s documentary, What is a Woman. The alleged grounds were two instances of “misgendering” and refusing to use “preferred” third-person singular personal pronouns. Jeremy D. Boreing of The Daily Wire protested the cancellation.

Twitter canceled a deal with @realdailywire to premiere What is a Woman? for free on the platform because of two instances of “misgendering.”

I’m not kidding.

Here's what happened:🧵1/16— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) June 1, 2023

Elon Musk found out about this – and reversed it, and apologized to Boreing.

This was a mistake by many people at Twitter. It is definitely allowed.

Whether or not you agree with using someone’s preferred pronouns, not doing so is at most rude and certainly breaks no laws.

I should note that I do personally use someone’s preferred pronouns, just as I…— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2023

One of those “people” was Ella Irwin, the head of Trust and Safety – whom Musk fired. Eventually Musk completed the censorship reversal, then promoted the film directly.

Every parent should watch this https://t.co/pIp6UP6vq8— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2023

And to resolve any doubts as to his opinion, he said this:

Consenting adults should do whatever makes them happy, provided it does not harm others, but a child is not capable of consent, which is why we have laws protecting minors.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2023

Whither Alex Berenson?

Happily, Alex Berenson remains. But this accountholder’s story illustrates an important point: freedom isn’t free. Those who want people to respect their liberty, must fight for it. Those who fight, win that much more liberty for the rest of us. CNAV hopes that Berenson’s example will inspire others – especially since we now know that Twitter could not justify most of its censorship decisions.

Furthermore, Alex Berenson will likely prevail against the government, just as Jay Bhattacharya and his fellow plaintiffs in Missouri v. Biden will. As Justice Clarence Thomas said: even a private actor, who acts on the State’s orders, becomes a State actor.

Terry A. Hurlbut

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Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.