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Commentary
In a democratic culture, what could be more pernicious than a secret marriage between social media and the huge spy agencies of a national government?
That is the heart of the Twitter revelations currently seizing the headlines of every (responsible) news organization, television network, and newspaper in North America and beyond.
The first portion of the story is that inside employees of Twitter were secretly manipulating what could show up on the Twitter platform. They made those choices based on their purely personal and individual political taste. They were chronically short-circuiting, banning, or underplaying conservative viewpoints.
The second portion is more particular. Mere weeks before a tight presidential election, a small and very active crew high up in the massive Twitter organization made every effort—and were mainly successful—in smothering a bombshell story, a story that, if reported honestly and with rigour, had the power to change the race for the most powerful office in the world....