‘Twitter Files' Part 2? Internet reacts as X influencers receive ‘Epstein Files: Phase 1’ binders
X influencers were seen with 'Epstein Files: Phase 1' binders at the White House, sparking social media comments like "This smells like the Twitter Files."
Jack Posobiec, DC Draino, Libs of TikTok, Mike Cernovich, Chad Prather, Liz Wheeler, and other X influencers were seen with binders labeled "Epstein Files: Phase 1" at the White House on Thursday. This came just hours after Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the U.S. Department of Justice would release additional files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. As photos and videos of the conservative commentators circulated, social media users began commenting that this resembled the release of the 'Twitter Files.’
“Trump did exactly what I was afraid of, just like Elon did with the 'Twitter Files.' The Epstein files should have been released on a website to the public, not just to a few select people. Any of these “influencers” who don’t immediately scan and publicly post the entire binder will have outed themselves as a grifting gatekeeping POS,” one person wrote on X.
Another commented, "Not blackpilling, but today's Epstein stunt is unfortunately delegitimizing and a poor attempt at recreating some kind of "Twitter Files" type exposé. We have all the power now, so we don't need influencers to leak stuff. Use the government. That's why we put you in power."
A third person wrote, “This smells like the Twitter Files again. Select individuals receive the information and decide how to release it. Create a link on a government website and every American can access and review it. Why the Gate Keeping? I hope I am wrong.”
Another person wrote, “A lot of famous X accounts peeps given the first Epstein file. Question: why not just put it out on X like they did the Twitter files? This feels like a club that we're not privileged enough to be in. These people will make lots of revenue by posting what they have on X.”
What are the 'Twitter Files'?
The ‘Twitter Files’ refer to a collection of internal documents and communications from Twitter that were released between December 2022 and March 2023 on X. Independent journalists, including Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss, obtained these records from Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, and subsequently shared them with the public. The release of these documents was presented as an evidence of a large-scale conspiracy between social media companies and the government, allegedly aimed at violating the First Amendment rights of users, MSNBC reported.
