Twitter files: The FBI tried to ban actor Billy Baldwin and satire accounts

A new trove of internal communications from Twitter suggests that the FBI has maintained constant contact with company employees over the past few years, frequently proposing user bans, including for outspoken Trump critic and actor Billy Baldwin, and what appear to be satirical accounts.

“Twitter’s contact with the FBI has been constant and pervasive, as if it were an affiliate,” argued journalist Matt Taibbi, who shared the documents in a Twitter thread On Friday afternoon.

The files were the latest in a series of documents set to be released after Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, gave a group of handpicked journalists access to the company’s internal records.

“Between January 2020 and November 2022, there were over 150 emails between the FBI and former Twitter Trust and Safety boss Yoel Roth,” Taibbi claimed.

“But a surprisingly high number are calling on Twitter for the FBI to take action against election misinformation, even with joke tweets from low-follower accounts,” he added.

New documents suggest the FBI has unsuccessfully asked Twitter to ban actor Billy Baldwin, pictured above with his wife Chynna Phillips last month

On November 6, 2022, Elvis Chan, the FBI’s Assistant Special Agent in Charge, forwarded a long list of accounts to Twitter officials for investigation, including Baldwin’s

In an email dated November 6, 2022, Deputy FBI Special Agent in charge Elvis Chan forwarded a long list of accounts to Twitter staff for review.

Chan wrote that the FBI believed the accounts were “hurting.” [Twitter’s] conditions of service by disseminating false information about the time, place, or nature of the upcoming elections.’

The list of accounts had been sent to Chan by the FBI’s National Election Command Post, which compiles and forwards complaints, noting that the list may be based on community tips submitted to the FBI.

The list included Baldwin, brother of actors Alec and Stephen Baldwin, as well as what appeared to be multiple satirical accounts and right-wing news and commentary outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network.

A Twitter employee replied to Chan on the morning of November 8, specifying which accounts were banned.

Baldwin’s account was not suspended in the action, and Twitter also spared several other accounts the FBI named, including RSB Network.

In an email dated November 6, 2022, Deputy FBI Special Agent in Charge Elvis Chan forwarded a long list of accounts to Twitter staff for review

The list of accounts (above) was sent to Chan by the FBI’s National Election Command Post and included actor Billy Baldwin

A Twitter employee replied to Chan on the morning of November 8, specifying which accounts were banned. Baldwin’s account was shown clemency

This email exchange came after Elon Musk took control of Twitter in late October.

It’s unclear what Baldwin tweeted that put him on the FBI list.

The actor is an outspoken liberal and frequent critic of Donald Trump, so the incident does little to substantiate the central claim of the so-called “Twitter Files” publications, which is that Twitter has secretly suppressed conservative voices.

However, it highlights the close relationship between FBI agents and Twitter employees, and raises questions about how and why the FBI sought bans against individual Twitter users.

The FBI’s San Francisco field office and Roth did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com.

Development of the story, more to come.