FBI: Normal to Converse With Twitter, Attempts to Discredit Agency ‘Unfortunate’

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - It is standard practice for the FBI to engage with social media companies, the agency said in a statement, following allegations that it exerted influence over Twitter to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story.

Information released as part of the so-called 'Twitter Files,' shared by reporters in coordination with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, recently revealed the FBI’s considerable influence over the company. The latest file dump alleged an organized effort by the US intelligence community to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story prior to its publication.

“The correspondence between the FBI and Twitter show nothing more than examples of our traditional, longstanding and ongoing federal government and private sector engagements, which involve numerous companies over multiple sectors and industries,” the FBI said on Wednesday.

“It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.”

The FBI provides critical information to the private sector in an effort to enable companies to protect themselves and their customers, the statement said.

The Twitter Files revealed frequent contact between the FBI and Twitter officials, including a high number of requests to take action on purported misinformation.

The disclosures also provided insight into Twitter’s decision to remove former US President Donald Trump from the platform and their collaboration with the US military on psychological operations.