S13 E02: Epstein Files & Twitter: 2/22/26: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:29) Welcome. Welcome, welcome, welcome to (00:00:31) last WEEK TONIGHT. I'M JALON. THANK YOU (00:00:33) SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. It has been a (00:00:35) busy week. The Supreme Court struck down (00:00:38) Trump's tariffs and he met with his (00:00:40) board of peace shortly before going back (00:00:42) to pushing the US toward war with Iran. (00:00:44) But we're actually going to start in the (00:00:46) UK this week where Thursday brought some (00:00:48) massive news. This morning, a stunning (00:00:51) royal arrest. Former Prince Andrew taken (00:00:53) into custody from his home in the (00:00:55) English countryside. It follows growing (00:00:57) revelations about the alleged (00:00:58) connections between the late sex (00:01:00) offender Jeffrey Epstein and Andrew. (00:01:03) >> It's true. They arrested former Prince (00:01:04) Andrew. And I don't know why they're (00:01:06) still going with alleged connections to (00:01:08) Epstein there while also running a photo (00:01:10) that makes them look like the two (00:01:12) closest friends I've ever seen. It looks (00:01:14) like they're brainstorming a new (00:01:16) podcast. It looks like Andrew soft (00:01:18) launching. Hey, would it be crazy if we (00:01:20) moved in together? I'm just saying. (00:01:23) Maybe drop the alleged part when you're (00:01:24) dealing with two guys that look so close (00:01:26) they could finish each other's prison (00:01:27) sentences. And if you're thinking, well, (00:01:30) what was the new revelation that did it? (00:01:31) Was the was it the grotesque new photo (00:01:33) of Andrew on all fours over a young (00:01:35) woman? Incredibly, no. It was apparently (00:01:37) this. The arrest reportedly linked to (00:01:39) emails released by the US Department of (00:01:41) Justice as part of the Epstein files (00:01:43) that show Andrew forwarding emails to (00:01:46) Epstein while he was trade envoy. The (00:01:48) emails, some dated in 2010, well after (00:01:50) Epstein had already been convicted of (00:01:52) soliciting sex from a minor, show Andrew (00:01:55) forwarding British government files from (00:01:56) his trips to places like Hong Kong and (00:01:58) Vietnam. Yeah, they got him on (00:02:00) forwarding documents, which is a little (00:02:03) underwhelming though, to be honest. When (00:02:04) it comes to bringing down monsters, I (00:02:06) don't really care if it's for a boring (00:02:08) computer crime. The same way I'm not (00:02:10) that mad if what finally ends a toddler (00:02:12) throwing a tantrum is a cardboard box. (00:02:14) The method doesn't matter. What's (00:02:16) important is you have been stopped. Now, (00:02:20) Andrew has repeatedly denied all (00:02:22) wrongdoing and has has been released, (00:02:23) although that does not mean he's been (00:02:25) found not guilty. All we really have to (00:02:27) go on right now is this fantastic (00:02:29) picture of him leaving custody. And you (00:02:32) can draw your own conclusions there. (00:02:34) Reasonable people can disagree on (00:02:35) whether this makes him look guilty or (00:02:38) dead. And I've got to say, even him (00:02:41) being taken into custody this week must (00:02:43) have been gratifying for some, including (00:02:46) anyone who's ever had to work for him. (00:02:47) Because to hear at least one former (00:02:49) officer who was assigned to guard (00:02:50) Andrew, he wasn't the greatest to be (00:02:52) around. (00:02:53) >> Did Prince Andrew have a nickname at (00:02:56) that time? (00:02:56) >> Well, his his his official code, so if (00:02:59) he was to come into the palace, he would (00:03:00) call someone was purple 41. But he did (00:03:03) have a nickname. But it's a bit rude for (00:03:05) me to tell you one I'll tell you. But (00:03:08) you're not going to be able to air it. (00:03:10) It was just called Do you want me to (00:03:11) tell you? (00:03:12) >> Yeah. (00:03:13) >> It was called the (00:03:16) Yeah. (00:03:18) Yeah. ACCORDING ACCORDING TO THAT GUY, (00:03:21) that was Andrew's unofficial nickname. (00:03:23) And it's a little weird he was so wary (00:03:25) of saying that word on TV given he was (00:03:27) appearing on Australia's 60 Minutes. And (00:03:30) Australians say all the time. I'm (00:03:31) pretty sure Blueie said it at least (00:03:33) three times. But it's not just codeame (00:03:36) here facing consequences. Take (00:03:38) Peter Mandlesson, the UK's former (00:03:40) ambassador to DC. He's also under police (00:03:42) investigation for forwarding government (00:03:44) emails to Epstein, something he's (00:03:45) denied. And there are also questions (00:03:47) about how close they were, especially (00:03:49) given the sheer number of photos of them (00:03:51) together, including this recently (00:03:53) released one of him in his underwear (00:03:55) seemingly in Epstein's apartment. And (00:03:57) the very fact Prime Minister Kiama (00:03:59) appointed Mandlesson ambassador in the (00:04:00) first place is now a major scandal. His (00:04:03) chief of staff and communications (00:04:04) director have resigned and it may not (00:04:06) stop there. (00:04:07) >> The followout is now directly (00:04:09) threatening the prime minister. (00:04:11) >> Prime Minister (00:04:12) >> Kier Starmer has admitted to parliament (00:04:14) he knew of Matt's past association with (00:04:16) Epstein, but that he had not been told (00:04:18) the truth about the extent of the (00:04:20) relationship. The admission has sparked (00:04:22) a furious backlash, including from (00:04:24) members of Starmer's own party who are (00:04:27) openly questioning his judgment and his (00:04:29) leadership. (00:04:30) >> Right? because that shows terrible (00:04:33) judgment. A crucial part of leadership (00:04:35) is who you pick to be on your team. If (00:04:37) the Raiders decided at this year's NFL (00:04:40) draft to use their number one pick to (00:04:42) select Roman Palansky, (00:04:44) everyone involved in that decision (00:04:46) should probably be fired. But here in (00:04:48) the US, there's been a notable lack of (00:04:50) consequences for several high-profile (00:04:52) figures who've appeared in the files. (00:04:54) Most notably, this guy is still (00:04:56) president. But also his commerce (00:04:57) secretary, Howard Lutnik, Epstein's (00:04:59) former nextoor neighbor, by the way, has (00:05:02) come under scrutiny because he (00:05:03) previously said he met Epstein only once (00:05:05) in 2005 and was so revolted he declared, (00:05:07) "I will never be in the room with that (00:05:09) disgusting person ever again." But new (00:05:12) documents reveal not only were they in (00:05:14) touch after that, Lutnik actually (00:05:15) visited Epstein's island, something he (00:05:17) tried to justify like this. I did have (00:05:20) lunch with him as I was on a boat going (00:05:23) across on a family vacation. My wife was (00:05:26) with me as were my four children and (00:05:29) nannies. We were on family vacation. We (00:05:32) were not apart to suggest there was (00:05:34) anything unoured about that in 2012. (00:05:38) I don't I don't recall why we did it. (00:05:40) But Mr. (00:05:42) >> Okay. To be clear, there was a lot (00:05:44) untored about meeting Epstein in 2012. (00:05:47) He'd left jail 3 years earlier as a sex (00:05:49) offender and it was widely known what (00:05:51) kind of guy he was at that time and it's (00:05:53) not a great look that it seems the end (00:05:55) of Lutnik's sentence I will never be in (00:05:56) a room with that disgusting person again (00:05:58) was apparently unless that is I can (00:06:00) bring my kids (00:06:02) but Lutnik is still in his job as by the (00:06:05) way is Peter Aier who CBS News had only (00:06:08) just hired as part of their new roster (00:06:09) of contributors when the files were (00:06:11) released and the details about him in (00:06:13) there aren't great (00:06:15) >> the celebrity longevity influence (00:06:16) influencer appears in the files more (00:06:19) than 1,700 times. In 2015, AIA wrote, (00:06:22) "The biggest problem with becoming (00:06:23) friends with you, the life you lead is (00:06:25) so outrageous and yet I cannot tell a (00:06:28) soul." (00:06:29) >> Oh, and that is not close to the worst (00:06:31) of it. Kazatilla also apparently wrote (00:06:33) to Epstein's assistant saying, "I go (00:06:35) into J withdrawal when I don't see him." (00:06:38) And wrote to Epstein directly saying (00:06:40) that, and I quote, "Pussy is indeed low (00:06:42) carb. still waiting results on gluten (00:06:46) content though. Now, AI has apologized (00:06:48) for those emails and has stepped down as (00:06:50) chief science officer of the protein bar (00:06:52) company David following these (00:06:54) revelations. But incredibly, as of (00:06:56) taping, CBS News still seems to be (00:07:00) keeping him on as a contributor. And it (00:07:01) is wild that CBS News somehow has lower (00:07:06) standards than A PROTEIN BAR COMPANY (00:07:09) THAT MARKETS THEIR PRODUCTS LIKE THIS (00:07:11) AND ALSO LIKE THIS. AND I'M NOT SURE who (00:07:14) at that company thought their bars (00:07:16) needed to be 80s horny, but I hope (00:07:18) they're gone, too. And look, I'm not (00:07:20) saying Ailla or Lutnik have committed (00:07:22) crimes, but it is clear just how (00:07:25) comfortable far too many people were (00:07:27) looking past Epstein's heinous actions. (00:07:29) And given the lack of accountability in (00:07:31) all this, there's at least some (00:07:32) satisfaction in knowing just how nervous (00:07:35) some powerful men must be feeling right (00:07:37) now. A nervousness that's kind of hard (00:07:39) to put into words. But luckily, I think (00:07:41) this picture sums it up pretty well. And (00:07:45) now this. (00:07:47) >> And now, people on TV celebrate National (00:07:50) Drink Wine Day. (00:07:52) >> Today is National Drink Wine Day. (00:07:56) >> It is recommended, friends, to drink in (00:07:58) moderation. So, one glass that's this (00:08:02) big. (00:08:02) >> It's Ash Wednesday. Um, I'm Catholic. (00:08:05) They serve wine at mass (00:08:07) >> because of Lent. Make sure you eat fish (00:08:09) today. So, EP Micah hooked me up. I (00:08:12) don't really know if this is a hookup, (00:08:13) guys, but he hooked me up with some fish (00:08:15) sticks and some generic wines. (00:08:17) >> It is Ash Wednesday. I think this is (00:08:19) interesting that it coincides with (00:08:21) National Drink Wine Day. (00:08:23) >> Kind of is, isn't it? (00:08:24) >> Is it? (00:08:25) >> Yeah. (00:08:26) >> This is nice rosé for the day. (00:08:27) >> How is it? (00:08:28) >> It's very good. (00:08:29) >> It's good. (00:08:30) >> National Wine Day. It is good. Tastes (00:08:32) different at 6:45 a.m. (00:08:37) >> Moving on, our main story tonight (00:08:39) concerns Twitter, or as it's been called (00:08:40) since Elon Musk purchased it a few years (00:08:42) ago, Twitter. It's a site with exactly (00:08:46) one good account left. Gerald Strapford, (00:08:48) a retired British man who delights (00:08:50) followers with his giant vegetables. (00:08:52) >> I've just cut this big cabbage. (00:08:56) It's a PB for me. I haven't got any (00:08:59) scales big enough to weigh it. (00:09:02) But, uh, I'm not worried about that. (00:09:04) It's a beautiful specimen. (00:09:06) >> Yeah, it is, Gerald. And I, for one, I'm (00:09:08) glad that you cut that cabbage. To be (00:09:10) honest, I haven't been this jazzed to (00:09:11) see a cabbage broken in half since my (00:09:13) wedding night. Twitter has clearly (00:09:17) changed significantly in recent years. (00:09:19) And you can pinpoint the moment that (00:09:20) started because it's the day in October (00:09:22) 2022 when Elon tweeted a video of (00:09:24) himself carrying a sink into Twitter (00:09:26) headquarters, writing, "Let that sink (00:09:29) in." in a joke so funny I'm still (00:09:31) laughing right now. (00:09:34) And he quickly made it clear that the (00:09:35) company was going to be different. He (00:09:36) changed Twitter's name to X, announced (00:09:38) an extremely hardcore cultural reset, (00:09:40) and by his count said he cut about 80% (00:09:42) of Twitter's staff. And to hear Elon (00:09:44) tell it, he did this to protect free (00:09:46) speech and correct for what many (00:09:48) conservatives considered a left-wing (00:09:49) bias. In fact, as far as he was (00:09:50) concerned, nothing less than the fate of (00:09:53) the world was at stake. The reason for (00:09:55) acquiring Twitter is because um it was (00:09:59) it it was c it was causing destruction (00:10:01) at a civilizational level. You know, (00:10:03) like Worm Tongue from Lord of the Rings (00:10:06) uh where he would just sort of like (00:10:08) whisper these, you know, terrible things (00:10:10) to the king. So the king would believe (00:10:12) these things that weren't true. And they (00:10:14) were pushing uh a nihilistic (00:10:17) anti-vilizational mind virus to the (00:10:19) world. Okay, for the record, Twitter's (00:10:23) not a good analog for Worm Tongue at (00:10:24) all. And I'm guessing I don't need to (00:10:26) explain why, given the ven diagram (00:10:27) between viewers of this show and people (00:10:30) familiar with second tier Lord of the (00:10:31) Rings characters is, I'm pretty sure, a (00:10:33) single circle, as round, in fact, as the (00:10:36) outermost wall of Minis Tith. (00:10:41) But what Elon's embrace of so-called (00:10:43) free speech has actually resulted in is (00:10:45) much darker. One study found an (00:10:47) approximately 50% increase in posts (00:10:49) containing hate speech. And recently, (00:10:51) you may have heard about the platform's (00:10:52) struggles with Grock's image editing (00:10:54) tool, which has allowed users to create (00:10:56) digitally altered sexualized photos of (00:10:58) real people, including miners. And look, (00:11:01) no one is saying Twitter was perfect (00:11:03) before Elon arrived. It helped platform (00:11:06) a lot of ugliness, including but not (00:11:08) limited to our first poster (00:11:10) president. But it is genuinely worse (00:11:13) now. And you might think you already (00:11:15) know how bad it is or that it doesn't (00:11:17) matter to you because you're no longer (00:11:18) on it. But I promise it's actually worse (00:11:20) than you think for reasons you may not (00:11:22) know and in ways that will unfortunately (00:11:24) impact all of us. So given that tonight, (00:11:27) let's talk about Twitter. Let's start (00:11:28) with some of the most visible changes (00:11:30) Elon's made. One of his first involved (00:11:32) the site's verification system, which (00:11:34) used to assign a blue check mark to (00:11:36) anyone wellknown enough that they might (00:11:38) need an official sign that they were who (00:11:40) they said they were. Elon replaced that (00:11:42) with a system where anyone can get a (00:11:44) blue check if they simply became a (00:11:45) premium user who paid $8 a month. And (00:11:48) that led to instant, albeit very funny, (00:11:50) chaos. (00:11:52) >> All of a sudden, scrollers saw LeBron (00:11:54) James asking for a trade. Oil company (00:11:58) British Petroleum admitting it killed (00:12:00) the planet and drug manufacturer Eli Liy (00:12:04) offering insulin for free. (00:12:07) >> It's true. Fake accounts sprung up all (00:12:10) over the place. Fake George Bush said he (00:12:12) missed killing Iraqis. To which fake (00:12:14) Tony Blair said, "Same TBH." (00:12:17) Fake OJ Simpson said, "Not going to lie, (00:12:19) I did that shit." And a fake American (00:12:22) Girl doll account said, "Felicity owned (00:12:24) slaves." Continuing, "I'm not even (00:12:26) lying. Look it up." Now, Elon eventually (00:12:30) added new gray and gold check marks to (00:12:32) help verify some official accounts. (00:12:34) While I'm not sure exactly which fake (00:12:36) tweet made him do that, if I had to (00:12:38) guess, it'd be this one from a fake (00:12:39) Tesla account that said, "Our cars do (00:12:41) not respect school zone speed limits. (00:12:43) them kids." So already the site was (00:12:47) much less reliable because it was harder (00:12:49) to tell who was trustworthy. But on top (00:12:51) of that, Elon took an axe to the site's (00:12:54) ability to deal with harmful content by, (00:12:56) among other things, slashing its global (00:12:58) trust and safety staff, including (00:13:00) reducing its full-time content (00:13:01) moderators by over 50%. He also started (00:13:04) restoring a lot of accounts that had (00:13:06) been banned for violating the platform's (00:13:07) policies on things like abusive behavior (00:13:09) and inciting violence. He memorably (00:13:11) brought back this guy as well as Alex (00:13:13) Jones, Andrew Tate, Nick Fuentes, and UK (00:13:16) anti-immigrant crusader Tommy Robertson, (00:13:18) which I believe is known as a nightmare (00:13:20) anything rotation. And that was just the (00:13:23) beginning. Twitter accounts belonging to (00:13:25) far-right activists and QAnon theorists (00:13:27) have been reinstated. According to data (00:13:30) reviewed by NBC News, hundreds of (00:13:32) formerly banned users now back on the (00:13:34) platform after Musk's Thanksgiving tweet (00:13:36) that amnesty begins next week. (00:13:39) >> Yeah, he basically reinstated a bunch of (00:13:41) accounts, including white supremacists, (00:13:43) and announced it on Thanksgiving, which (00:13:45) when you think about it, is actually (00:13:46) pretty thematically appropriate for the (00:13:48) holiday. And when you take all of that (00:13:50) together, it is no wonder the site (00:13:52) became a fertile breeding ground for (00:13:54) hatred and misinformation and much less (00:13:57) reliable when it came to tracking (00:13:59) breaking news. One of the first clear (00:14:01) signs of that came in the wake of the (00:14:02) October 7th attacks in Israel. (00:14:03) Previously, at a moment like that, (00:14:05) people might look to Twitter for (00:14:07) information from journalists and other (00:14:08) credible people on the scene. But a ton (00:14:11) of misinformation circulated there, (00:14:13) often from accounts boasting misleading (00:14:15) blue checks. This video of a grieving (00:14:18) boy supposedly from Gaza went viral even (00:14:20) though it was from at least 9 years (00:14:21) earlier and was taken in Syria. And this (00:14:24) clip supposedly of Israeli rockets (00:14:25) exploding was actually from a military (00:14:27) simulation video game. The account that (00:14:29) posted that, by the way, conveniently (00:14:30) titled Israel MSAD, had gone from fewer (00:14:33) than a thousand followers when it first (00:14:34) acquired a blue check in September 2023 (00:14:37) to more than 230,000. (00:14:39) And that wasn't the only big change (00:14:41) because Twitter also started paying (00:14:43) so-called creators on the site. (00:14:45) Currently, if you're a premium user, (00:14:47) meaning you pay for a blue check, you (00:14:49) can get paid for your posts and your (00:14:51) revenue is dependent on how many other (00:14:53) premium users reply to, repost, and like (00:14:56) your content. And that has served some (00:14:59) users pretty well, like this guy who (00:15:00) posted as freedom uncut online and was (00:15:03) on Twitter a lot. (00:15:05) >> He says he spends up to 16 hours a day (00:15:07) on X, sharing AI generated pictures like (00:15:10) these and streaming. While some of these (00:15:12) posts are obviously satirical, others (00:15:14) are less fantastical. It's the more (00:15:16) provocative content that gets views. He (00:15:18) tells me (00:15:19) >> it's kind of interesting because (00:15:22) the the balance between free speech and (00:15:26) saying stuff that you know is either (00:15:29) untrue or you just say it in a very (00:15:32) brash way to egg people on. Uh is is an (00:15:38) interesting era that we're in. I know (00:15:40) people that are making the the pay (00:15:42) periods every 2 weeks and I know people (00:15:44) that are in the thousand plus range. (00:15:48) >> Look, it is not the most important thing (00:15:50) there, but it is genuinely incredible to (00:15:52) me that people can make money posting (00:15:54) Matrix memes of Trump that read I can (00:15:57) dodge bullets. Not least because that's (00:15:59) something, and not to be a fact (00:16:01) here, Trump didn't entirely do. if we're (00:16:04) just going to be stickers about it. And (00:16:09) look, over $1,000 (00:16:12) every two weeks is clearly a good payday (00:16:14) just for posting. Usually to make that (00:16:16) kind of money online, you need to be (00:16:17) running a crypto scam or selling feet (00:16:20) pics. And that's even that is only (00:16:21) realistic for those of us who happen to (00:16:23) be born with irresistible feet. I I (00:16:25) would show you, but honey, I don't do (00:16:27) that for free. (00:16:30) And some accounts, particularly on the (00:16:32) far right, have even made more, like the (00:16:34) anonymous end wokeness, which once (00:16:36) tweeted, "Wow, Elon Musk wasn't kidding. (00:16:38) Content monetization is real." With a (00:16:40) screenshot showing earnings of over (00:16:42) $10,000. Now, I should say most accounts (00:16:45) don't make that much, but even (00:16:46) relatively small amounts can be an (00:16:48) incentive if, say, you live in another (00:16:50) country where the cost of living is (00:16:52) lower. And that may help explain the (00:16:54) somewhat awkward revelations that came (00:16:56) last year when Twitter suddenly allowed (00:16:58) people to see accounts location (00:17:00) information. (00:17:01) >> The exac account Mag with nearly 400,000 (00:17:04) followers boasts itself as standing (00:17:07) strong with President Trump and America (00:17:09) First with post after post backing (00:17:11) Trump. But OneClick shows it's based in (00:17:14) Eastern Europe. Even President Trump (00:17:16) himself reposting several accounts that (00:17:18) are not from the United States on his (00:17:20) truth social platform. like this account (00:17:22) called commentary Donald Trump posting (00:17:24) about whether foreignb born citizens (00:17:26) should be barred from running for (00:17:27) office. The account itself based in (00:17:30) Africa. (00:17:31) >> Yeah. And that is not all. An account (00:17:33) called ultra magump2028 claiming to be (00:17:36) based in DC was also listed as being in (00:17:38) Africa. The account MAGA Nadine was (00:17:40) based in Morocco. And the user at (00:17:42) American was based in Pakistan (00:17:45) which is pretty surprising. Finding out (00:17:47) an account called at American is based (00:17:48) outside the US is kind of like finding (00:17:50) out that the person who runs Dumoir is (00:17:53) David Atenburgh. I mean sure it's not (00:17:56) illegal and I guess maybe the passion (00:17:58) could be real but it certainly changes (00:18:00) how I think about things. The point is (00:18:03) there is an ecosystem of people both (00:18:05) here and abroad who've discovered you (00:18:07) can make money off of pissed Americans (00:18:09) staring at their phones. And to be (00:18:11) clear, none of the changes I've (00:18:12) mentioned so far involved secret tweaks (00:18:14) to Twitter's algorithm. They just (00:18:16) involved changing who could post and (00:18:19) what their incentives were. As for (00:18:21) what's happened behind the scenes, that (00:18:24) is harder to say, though. Some who've (00:18:25) run experiments on the site have made (00:18:27) some troubling discoveries. Last year, (00:18:29) Sky News created a number of accounts (00:18:30) emulating British Twitter users. Three (00:18:32) were leftwing users, three were (00:18:34) right-wing, and three were neutral, (00:18:36) designed to show no interest in (00:18:37) politics. And when they tracked the (00:18:39) content each was pushed by Twitter's (00:18:41) algorithm, their findings were striking. (00:18:44) >> The result was that every account, no (00:18:45) matter their political orientation, was (00:18:47) fed a glut of right-wing content. (00:18:50) Remember our left-wing users. This shows (00:18:52) what they saw on the platform, and more (00:18:54) than 40% came from right-wing accounts. (00:18:58) Compare that to our right-wing users, (00:19:00) and look, they saw much less left-wing (00:19:02) content and a lot of right-wing content. (00:19:06) And then the neutral users who we (00:19:07) designed not to show any interest in (00:19:09) politics. They saw twice as much (00:19:12) right-wing content in the pink here than (00:19:14) they did leftwing in yellow. And that (00:19:16) clearly suggests that something is up. (00:19:19) Even if we don't know the exact (00:19:20) algorithm changes that were made. It's (00:19:22) like when a Redditor found that (00:19:23) statistically James Harden's poor (00:19:25) performance during away games correlates (00:19:27) with them happening in cities with (00:19:29) highly rated strip clubs. Now, can we (00:19:32) make concrete statements about causality (00:19:34) there? Of course we can't. But the data (00:19:36) is making some loud suggestions. (00:19:39) Now, I have to say X has announced a new (00:19:42) update to Twitter's algorithm, which (00:19:43) they've dubbed as purely AIEL. Although (00:19:46) given Elon has a history of trying to (00:19:47) make his AI chatbot grock less woke, (00:19:50) leading to it at one point calling (00:19:51) itself Mecca Hitler. I'm not sure how (00:19:54) reassuring that is. Also, Elon's (00:19:57) definitely shown a willingness to tweak (00:19:59) Twitter's algorithm to drive certain (00:20:01) kinds of content, and sometimes for (00:20:04) truly embarrassing reasons. There's a (00:20:06) notorious incident involving him going (00:20:07) to the Super Bowl in 2023 and having a (00:20:10) problem with one of his tweets, and I'll (00:20:11) let this reporter fill you in. (00:20:13) >> He tweets out basically his support for (00:20:16) the Philadelphia Eagles. I think his (00:20:18) tweet was something like, "Go Eagles!" (00:20:19) with a few American flags on it. (00:20:22) Biden around the same time posts a (00:20:25) somewhat similar tweet. (00:20:27) Fly Eagles fly. And it's a video of his (00:20:30) wife Joe Biden who's walking with an (00:20:31) Eagles jersey on. The game goes on. Elon (00:20:35) Musk checks his phone. Weird. It looks (00:20:38) like Joe Biden, who he's called a damp (00:20:40) sock puppet in human form, is doing much (00:20:44) better than he is in terms of engagement (00:20:46) on this very similar tweet. At 2:36 (00:20:49) a.m., she says an urgent message went (00:20:51) out and roughly 80 engineers were pulled (00:20:53) into work. (00:20:54) >> And they're tasked with fixing the (00:20:58) issues with the algorithm. (00:21:01) >> That's true. Elon's tweets got less (00:21:03) engagement than Biden's did. So 80 (00:21:05) engineers were called in at 2 in the (00:21:07) morning and told this is high urgency. (00:21:10) And of course, his tweet flopped. It was (00:21:12) terrible. First, don't use American (00:21:14) flags when eagle emojis exist. But also (00:21:16) eagles. Why call them by their (00:21:18) government name? Just post go birds, (00:21:20) eagle emojis, Jaylen Herz can give me a (00:21:22) tush push any day and you'd have cracked (00:21:24) a million likes instantly. Now, (00:21:27) reporters later learned that after Musk (00:21:29) threatened to fire his remaining (00:21:30) engineers, they built a system designed (00:21:32) to ensure that he and he alone benefited (00:21:35) from previously unheard of promotion of (00:21:36) his tweets to the entire user base, (00:21:39) which seems to be happening as basically (00:21:42) whatever Elon's tweeting about, people (00:21:44) will see it in their feeds. When Fortune (00:21:46) conducted an experiment to gauge how (00:21:48) prevalent Musk was on Twitter, they set (00:21:49) up a dozen different test accounts. And (00:21:51) in approximately 90% of the sessions (00:21:54) they conducted, a post from Musk (00:21:56) appeared at least once in the timeline, (00:21:58) usually much more often. And even (00:22:00) clicking not interested in Elon Musk, (00:22:03) didn't change things. In fact, after one (00:22:04) test account clicked exactly that, posts (00:22:07) from him more than doubled. At this (00:22:10) point, it seems like there's only one (00:22:12) option if you never want to hear (00:22:13) anything from Elon Musk, and that's to (00:22:14) be his coolest child. (00:22:17) and Twitter thumbming the scale toward (00:22:20) Elon's interest is bad for multiple (00:22:22) reasons, not limited to his god-awful (00:22:24) jokes, his history of invoking extreme (00:22:26) ideas like the anti-semitic great (00:22:27) replacement theory, and the fact he was (00:22:29) apparently a driver of US election (00:22:30) misinformation in 2024. But perhaps the (00:22:34) biggest cause for concern is the fact (00:22:36) that our current government is (00:22:38) troublingly dependent on Elon's (00:22:40) platform. The Trump administration is (00:22:42) painfully online and particularly on (00:22:44) Twitter. JD Vance has said that he's a (00:22:46) Grock guy. Cash Mattel's repeatedly (00:22:49) fumbled FBI investigations by (00:22:50) prematurely announcing suspects on (00:22:52) Twitter. And this photo of the makeshift (00:22:55) situation room during the US military (00:22:56) operation in Venezuela showed a Twitter (00:22:58) feed with Venezuela (00:23:01) in the search bar. And I'm not sure (00:23:04) anything could inspire less confidence (00:23:06) than that other than the Google results (00:23:07) for who is Venezuela. (00:23:10) And at best, the consequences of doing (00:23:13) this are that the government just ends (00:23:15) up doing dumb stuff, like when someone (00:23:17) on Twitter seemed to convince Elon that (00:23:19) the gold inside Fort Knox might be (00:23:21) missing. The Washington Post traced it (00:23:24) back to this tweet, suggesting he take a (00:23:26) look to make sure it was still there. (00:23:27) Musk replied, "Surely it's reviewed (00:23:29) every year." To which the account (00:23:30) responded, "It should be. It isn't." (00:23:33) Just 2 days later, Mus tweeted, "It (00:23:35) would be cool to do a live video (00:23:36) walkthrough of Fort Knox." And not long (00:23:38) after that, this came out of the mouth (00:23:41) of the president of the United States. (00:23:43) >> We're actually going to Fort Knox to see (00:23:45) if the gold is there, cuz maybe somebody (00:23:47) stole the gold. Tons of gold. (00:23:50) >> Okay. (00:23:52) Well, let us know, I guess. (00:23:56) Honestly, I know it's probably not a (00:23:58) great use of taxpayer money, but I think (00:24:00) I'd be okay if he spent the rest of his (00:24:03) presidency trying to solve low stakes (00:24:05) mysteries he found on Twitter. (00:24:07) Visiting Fort Knox because someone said (00:24:09) the golds might be missing or pouring (00:24:11) around in the White House garden with a (00:24:13) magnifying glass because Courtney (00:24:14) Kardashian once tweeted, "Do ants have (00:24:16) dicks?" It wouldn't be the worst use of (00:24:20) his time. Anything that keeps him busy, (00:24:23) really? (00:24:24) But wild gold chases are the best case (00:24:27) scenario here because we've talked (00:24:28) before about how misinformation on (00:24:30) Twitter led to actual spending cuts (00:24:32) during Elon's time at Doge, but it goes (00:24:34) well beyond that. A nominee for a senior (00:24:38) administration post recently told the (00:24:40) New Yorker, "If we have something that's (00:24:41) popular in right-wing Twitter, the White (00:24:43) House is acting on it 90 plus% of the (00:24:46) time." And Trump appointees like Har (00:24:48) Dylan, the assistant attorney general (00:24:50) for civil rights, will sometimes openly (00:24:52) brag about taking work cues from social (00:24:55) media. (00:24:56) >> I have a big social media following from (00:24:58) before I joined the DOJ and about 1.5 (00:25:00) million plus followers online. It is a (00:25:03) way to find information. today. I don't (00:25:05) actually watch television very much. Um (00:25:07) I'm not, you know, I don't have the TV (00:25:09) on in the background because TV is like (00:25:11) 12 to 24 hours behind what's really (00:25:13) happening. And when the modern-day (00:25:16) journalist heroes who are the Nick (00:25:18) Shirley's and and you know, the Matt (00:25:20) Taibis and some of these others who uh (00:25:22) you know, right or left, they're the (00:25:24) ones who are getting the leads and (00:25:26) sharing the stories in real time. Those (00:25:28) those are the ones I pay attention to (00:25:30) and where we get our attention on (00:25:32) something. or libs of Tik Tok is also a (00:25:34) great source for some of our uh issues (00:25:37) involving schools or employment. We do (00:25:39) open up investigations based on internet (00:25:41) leads and I I am proud of that. (00:25:44) >> Okay, first bragging about your Twitter (00:25:46) followers is just embarrassing and it (00:25:48) gets even worse when you learn that last (00:25:50) December Dylan tweeted, "I've been stuck (00:25:52) at pretty much the same level of (00:25:54) followers on this account since I (00:25:55) started my government job. What am I (00:25:57) chop liver over here? What kind of (00:25:59) content do my folks want to see more of (00:26:01) to like and share? To which I'd respond, (00:26:04) I guess I'd love to see a resignation (00:26:06) letter if you're taking requests. But (00:26:08) also, it's a little hard to hear her (00:26:11) complain about a lack of followers given (00:26:13) she routinely pumps out duds like this (00:26:15) recent one on the road timeline cleanse (00:26:18) knitting after a day of hard work. (00:26:20) Cashmir hat for a man. And this one also (00:26:23) about a hat, but in which he throws in (00:26:24) the arur for good measure. AND WHAT THE (00:26:28) IS THAT? THAT IS A HARD unfollow (00:26:31) for me for the assistant attorney (00:26:33) general for civil rights. But but there (00:26:36) are obvious issues with the government (00:26:38) taking cues from accounts that Dylan (00:26:40) Justice described because some are (00:26:42) posting deeply irresponsible rage bait. (00:26:45) Take a guy that she just mentioned (00:26:46) there, Nick Shirley. He's the (00:26:47) 23-year-old right-wing influencer behind (00:26:49) a viral investigation of Minnesota (00:26:52) daycarees posted in December. Uh they (00:26:54) were actually playing a clip of it (00:26:56) during her interview there. Shirley (00:26:57) posted it on YouTube first, but it (00:26:59) quickly went viral on Twitter where it (00:27:01) so far garnered over 140 million views. (00:27:04) And it's worth knowing just how flimsy (00:27:06) it was. For context, allegations of (00:27:09) social services fraud in Minnesota, some (00:27:10) of it by Somali Americans have been the (00:27:12) subject of federal investigations and (00:27:14) mainstream media coverage for years now. (00:27:16) Dozens of people have already been (00:27:18) convicted as a result, with some (00:27:19) investigations still ongoing. Still, (00:27:22) Nick Shirley decided to do some (00:27:24) investigating of his own by showing up (00:27:26) at daycarees, demanding to see proof (00:27:28) kids went there, and in some instances (00:27:30) asking if he could enroll his (00:27:32) non-existent child. When he wasn't able (00:27:34) to do that, he concluded the businesses (00:27:36) were fronts. It was a truly ridiculous (00:27:39) stunt as he sort of acknowledged when (00:27:41) pressed on it by an actual reporter. (00:27:43) >> But surely you don't think a daycare (00:27:45) should just be unlocked. You shouldn't (00:27:47) be able to just walk into a dayare. (00:27:48) >> Be a reception. What it is? (00:27:49) >> No, they every daycare is locked. (00:27:52) >> Has their doors are locked. (00:27:54) >> Okay, you bring up a fair point then, (00:27:56) but why can't they actually give me (00:27:57) information how to enroll a child? (00:27:59) >> Okay, first I love the slight pause (00:28:01) there after Shirley was told daycarees (00:28:03) are not typically open to strangers with (00:28:05) cameras. Just the slow realization that (00:28:07) a locked door is one of the basic things (00:28:10) every daycare should have along with (00:28:12) crayons, interlocking foam tiles, tiny (00:28:14) tables and chairs, and so many germs. (00:28:16) Every part of the insides will be coated (00:28:17) with flem for the next two years (00:28:18) straight. THAT IS WHAT DAYCARES ARE. BUT (00:28:21) ALSO, if you really want the latest (00:28:24) right-wing rallying cry to be daycare (00:28:26) should have a guest reception for random (00:28:28) men without children who just want to (00:28:29) poke around and film some I'd love (00:28:32) to see how that turns out for you. Now, (00:28:35) you won't be surprised to learn that (00:28:36) state investigators conducted compliance (00:28:38) checks after Shirley's video went viral (00:28:40) and found that the daycarees he visited (00:28:41) were operating as expected and the kids (00:28:44) were present at all sites except for (00:28:45) one. And that is only because it wasn't (00:28:47) yet open for families for the day when (00:28:49) inspectors arrived. But the thing is, it (00:28:51) was already too late because Elon (00:28:54) absolutely loved that dumb video. He (00:28:56) tweeted, retweeted, and engaged with a (00:28:59) truly absurd number of posts about it or (00:29:01) the claims that it made in the days (00:29:03) after the video went online. And (00:29:05) unsurprisingly, the Trump administration (00:29:07) took notice. The day after it was (00:29:09) posted, JD Vance tweeted about it, (00:29:11) saying it was more useful journalism (00:29:12) than any of the winners of the 2024 (00:29:14) pulit prizes, which given one of them (00:29:16) focused on tactics authoritarian regimes (00:29:19) used to repress descent in the digital (00:29:21) age feels a bit on the nose. Two days (00:29:24) after that, Christine Ome posted a clip (00:29:25) of ICE agents apparently conducting a (00:29:27) massive investigation into childcare (00:29:29) fraud in Minneapolis. And the next day, (00:29:32) Trump's then deputy secretary at HHS (00:29:34) posted on Twitter tagging Nick Shirley (00:29:37) and including this video that was then (00:29:38) retweeted by HHS. Intrepid journalists (00:29:42) have made shocking and credible (00:29:43) allegations of extensive fraud in (00:29:45) Minnesota's childare programs. We (00:29:48) believe the state of Minnesota has (00:29:49) allowed scammers and fake daycarees to (00:29:51) siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over (00:29:53) the past decade. (00:29:54) >> Wow. Look, I know it is distracting (00:29:56) because that man is hot as (00:30:00) but if you can listen to his words (00:30:02) through the SMOKE SHOW GOING ON THERE, (00:30:06) they're actually very worrying. In that (00:30:09) post, they announced they've frozen (00:30:11) funding to Minnesota and then quickly (00:30:13) tried expanding that to encompass five (00:30:15) Democratic run states. And within two (00:30:17) weeks, the Trump administration sent (00:30:19) thousands of federal agents to Minnesota (00:30:21) to crack down on illegal immigration. I (00:30:24) don't think it's a stretch to say that a (00:30:26) lot of the you saw in Minnesota was (00:30:28) caused, at least in part, by this (00:30:30) tweet. The point here is Twitter (00:30:33) has become a sewer of misinformation (00:30:35) with the power to bring about troubling (00:30:37) real world impacts. And to be clear, (00:30:39) this is now a problem that goes far (00:30:41) beyond this administration or this (00:30:44) country. Because to see just how (00:30:46) dangerous what Elon's built can be, we (00:30:48) actually have to look at England. In (00:30:49) 2024, in a town called Southport, three (00:30:52) young girls were killed in a knife (00:30:53) attack. It was horrific. In the (00:30:55) immediate aftermath, there was almost no (00:30:57) public information available about the (00:30:59) attacker. But nevertheless, a Twitter (00:31:01) account called Europe Invasion, known to (00:31:03) publish anti-immigrant and Islamophobic (00:31:04) content, baselessly suggested the (00:31:07) suspect was a Muslim immigrant. By the (00:31:08) time the killer was identified as a (00:31:10) non-Muslim British citizen born to (00:31:13) parents from Rwanda, it was already too (00:31:14) late as mobs were forming. And after a (00:31:17) vigil for the victims, violence broke (00:31:19) out near a local mosque with people (00:31:21) throwing bricks, bottles, and other (00:31:22) missiles at it. And the Imam there still (00:31:25) seemed stunned by the speed with which (00:31:27) it all accelerated. We start getting (00:31:31) messages from friends and neighbors and (00:31:34) saying there is a lot of people accusing (00:31:38) the attacker of being a Muslim and then (00:31:42) it's moving from there. They said it he (00:31:45) is coming to this mosque and then it (00:31:48) moved from there very quickly. We're (00:31:50) talking about within half an hour it (00:31:53) became that we coerced him into doing (00:31:56) what he did. Did you ever expect that it (00:31:58) would end up that hatred would end up (00:32:01) outside your mosque? (00:32:02) >> Never. (00:32:03) >> That is terrible. And given the killer (00:32:06) wasn't a member of that mosque or indeed (00:32:08) Muslim, of course you wouldn't expect a (00:32:11) hate mob to show up. It makes literally (00:32:12) as much sense as a mob showing up at a (00:32:14) Taco Bell to protest the results of an (00:32:16) Orlando Magic game. Hey guys, those two (00:32:19) things are unrelated. You got some bad (00:32:21) intel. Go home, you idiots. (00:32:25) But from there, the riots spread (00:32:28) nationwide with mobs targeting mosques (00:32:30) and hotels housing asylum seekers and (00:32:32) leading to what's been called the worst (00:32:34) unrest the UK has seen in more than a (00:32:37) decade. And it was significantly fueled (00:32:39) by Twitter with false or unfounded (00:32:41) claims about the Southport attacker (00:32:43) getting at least 155 million impressions (00:32:46) in the days after the attack. And when (00:32:47) the police there eventually made arrests (00:32:49) for inciting racial hatred, one of the (00:32:51) men convicted happened to be earning (00:32:53) £1,400 a month from his activities on (00:32:56) the site. And it is hard to deny (00:32:59) Twitter's role as at the very least an (00:33:01) accelerant. Two of the major voices (00:33:04) spreading dangerous misinformation were (00:33:05) Andrew Tate and Tommy Robinson who (00:33:06) remember Elon reinstated to the (00:33:08) platform. Elon himself was acting as a (00:33:11) sort of amplifier to the point that he (00:33:12) replied to one post about the attacks (00:33:14) with civil war is inevitable. And it's (00:33:18) not like some of the key participants (00:33:20) have denied how critical Twitter's role (00:33:23) has been. Robertson's farright movement (00:33:24) picked up significant steam in the wake (00:33:27) of Southport. And here he is not long (00:33:28) after the riots, giving credit where he (00:33:31) feels it's due. (00:33:32) >> Look what we've achieved in 6 months. (00:33:34) We've gone from through the roof thanks (00:33:36) to Elon Musk. built a cult movement (00:33:38) ready. Inspired many (00:33:42) and uh we're ready. (00:33:45) >> Yeah. Not great. And if that wasn't bad (00:33:47) enough, Robinson actually hosted an (00:33:49) anti-immigration the kingdom rally in (00:33:52) London last year. And you'll never guess (00:33:54) who he managed to get as a special (00:33:56) guest. (00:33:57) >> The huge crowds in Westminster didn't (00:33:59) turn out just for Tommy Robinson. (00:34:01) They're also chanting someone else's (00:34:03) name. (00:34:06) Elon Musk joining in from America. (00:34:08) >> Whether you choose violence or not, (00:34:09) violence is coming to you, you either (00:34:12) fight back or you die. (00:34:15) >> Okay, saying fight back or die to that (00:34:18) crowd is so malevolent I can barely wrap (00:34:21) my head around it. And I I've got to say (00:34:24) what he's doing there sure does seem (00:34:25) like a strong case of, if I may quote (00:34:27) Elon himself, someone whispering (00:34:29) terrible things, things that weren't (00:34:31) true and they're pushing a neistic (00:34:33) anti-vilizational mind virus to the (00:34:35) world. It is worm tonguecoded at least (00:34:39) is what I am saying here. And look, this (00:34:42) is typically where I trot out my hit (00:34:44) catchphrase, what can we do? You know (00:34:46) it. People go crazy when I say it's on (00:34:47) t-shirts now and I can't walk down the (00:34:49) street without people begging me to say (00:34:51) it to them. But right now, (00:34:53) unfortunately, there's not much we can (00:34:55) push for by way of solutions. The fact (00:34:56) is, a massive media platform has been (00:34:59) shaped in the image of its poisonous (00:35:01) owner. And it doesn't seem like Elon's (00:35:03) going to see the error of his ways (00:35:04) anytime soon, seeing his brain seems to (00:35:07) be thoroughly cooked by the garbage he (00:35:09) consumes on his own site. To be honest, (00:35:11) he still doesn't seem to have a coherent (00:35:14) vision of exactly what Twitter should (00:35:15) be. Because just watch this recent (00:35:17) interview where he offers a pretty grand (00:35:19) vision for it, but then gets tripped up (00:35:21) by the most basic follow-up question (00:35:23) imaginable. And I promise this answer is (00:35:26) so much worse than you are prepared for. (00:35:30) >> I just want to really have um a a global (00:35:32) platform that brings together (00:35:35) like like I said like it's becomes close (00:35:37) to sort of a collective consciousness (00:35:40) uh of humanity as possible. And why is (00:35:42) that important you know collective (00:35:44) consciousness to have one platform? (00:35:47) >> I I guess uh (00:35:50) >> yeah why is that important? Um (00:36:01) I I guess it's you could also say like (00:36:03) like why uh (00:36:06) you know if you consider humans like (00:36:08) humans are composed of around 30 to 40 (00:36:11) trillion cells. Um (00:36:15) and (00:36:17) you know there's trillions of synap (00:36:19) synapses in your in your mind. Um (00:36:25) but but but there's there's no the why (00:36:28) of it. I mean I guess it's just so we (00:36:30) can (00:36:32) increase (00:36:34) our understanding our our understand (00:36:36) increase our (00:36:40) understanding of the the universe. (00:36:43) You know, at first I thought that was (00:36:47) embarrassing, but with the full 10 (00:36:48) seconds where Elon's brain seemed to (00:36:50) buffer like it's loading a video on AOL (00:36:52) in 1999. But then I saw the little (00:36:55) drawing labeled 30 to 40 trillion cells, (00:36:58) and it all totally made sense. (00:37:01) So, it seems like the odds of Elon (00:37:03) fixing this are pretty slim. Meaning, (00:37:05) all we can really control is how we each (00:37:07) interact with Twitter. And I know that (00:37:09) there are some out there who think it's (00:37:10) important to stay on it to be part of (00:37:12) the town square. Although given that (00:37:14) town square now resembles, if anything, (00:37:16) this I'm not sure much good faith debate (00:37:19) is taking place there. My personal (00:37:21) advice is not to post on it at all. I (00:37:23) haven't done that in over a year. (00:37:24) Although I will be going back there (00:37:26) tomorrow to post a link to this piece (00:37:28) before going silent again and (00:37:30) prioritizing my only fans. (00:37:32) And look, I know people have their own (00:37:36) reasons for staying on Twitter, though, (00:37:37) for what it's worth, a lot of what it (00:37:39) does can be replicated elsewhere. If you (00:37:41) want to stay in touch with friends or (00:37:42) contacts, maybe try and connect with (00:37:44) them somewhere else. If you spend most (00:37:45) of your time sending your significant (00:37:46) other memes and funny posts, there are (00:37:48) other sites where you can find those, (00:37:50) but also maybe put your phone down and (00:37:52) take your wife out to dinner. It's been (00:37:53) a long time since you went out without (00:37:54) the kids. And if you just want to watch (00:37:57) arguments, may I recommend the Real (00:37:59) Housewives franchises, the Shakespeare (00:38:02) of the modern age, all I'll say is there (00:38:04) are certain areas like news in (00:38:06) particular where Twitter is now worse (00:38:09) than useless. In fact, for breaking (00:38:11) news, it is an active liability as (00:38:14) people routinely push out false (00:38:16) information in the wake of tragedies and (00:38:18) crises, often for money, and there don't (00:38:20) seem to be many guardrails to stop them. (00:38:22) All of which is really a long way of (00:38:24) saying that the Twitter that we may have (00:38:26) once relied on and the Twitter that was (00:38:29) fun and occasionally useful is just well (00:38:31) and truly gone. And collectively, while (00:38:34) it might be sad, it might be past time (00:38:36) for all of us too, if I may borrow a (00:38:38) truly poisoned phrase. (00:38:40) Let that (00:38:42) sink in. (00:38:44) That's our show. Thanks so much for (00:38:46) watching. We'll see you next week. Good (00:38:48) night. (00:38:51) How about this for a parnip? (00:38:53) Straight out of my raised bed. The (00:38:56) raised bed (00:38:58) is from there (00:39:00) down to there. And the parsnip has gone (00:39:03) from top to bottom. (00:39:05) We'll enjoy that today. (00:39:08) Always beautiful. We love parsnip in (00:39:10) lots of different ways. (00:39:13) Cheers.