“Chief Twit” Elon Musk has named the agency he believes is guilty of the most government censorship, calling the little-known and clandestine Department of State’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) a “threat to our democracy” on Monday.

“The worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation is an obscure agency called GEC,” he tweeted, adding, “That is the line they fed the media about me.”

Most Americans have never heard of the agency before, but they know who most Americans are.

Independent journalist Matt Taibbi issued the 12th installment of the “Twitter Files” on January 3 that explained exactly why the agency is so dangerous. He called the GEC the “fledgling analytic/intelligence arms of the State Department.” He charged that the agency released a Russian disinformation report to the media and flagged certain accounts as “Russian personas and proxies” based on a very dubious and politically biased list of criteria.

They are a threat to our democracy

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2023

That is the line they fed the media about me

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2023

The agency was purportedly angling at inserting itself into content moderation and violating the free speech rights of countless Americans on Twitter, according to Taibbi.

“3. In February, 2020, as COVID broke out, the Global Engagement Center – a fledgling analytic/intelligence arms of the State Department – went to the media with a report called, ‘Russian Disinformation Apparatus Taking Advantage of Coronavirus Concerns,'” he tweeted.

“4. The GEC flagged accounts as ‘Russian personas and proxies’ based on criteria like, ‘Describing the Coronavirus as an engineered bioweapon,’ blaming ‘research conducted at the Wuhan institute,’ and ‘attributing the appearance of the virus to the CIA,'” Taibbi continued.

4.The GEC flagged accounts as “Russian personas and proxies” based on criteria like, “Describing the Coronavirus as an engineered bioweapon,” blaming “research conducted at the Wuhan institute,” and “attributing the appearance of the virus to the CIA.” pic.twitter.com/a4xBotQZ2m

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 3, 2023

The intrepid journalist continued to explain how the agency censored users in the name of controlling propaganda.

“10. When the State Department/GEC – remember this was 2020, during the Trump administration – wanted to publicize a list of 5,500 accounts it claimed would ‘amplify Chinese propaganda and disinformation’ about COVID, Twitter analysts were beside themselves,” Taibbi wrote.

“11. The GEC report appeared based on DHS data circulated earlier that week, and included accounts that followed ‘two or more’ Chinese diplomatic accounts. They reportedly ended up with a list ‘nearly 250,000’ names long, and included Canadian officials and a CNN account,” he remarked.

11.The GEC report appeared based on DHS data circulated earlier that week, and included accounts that followed “two or more” Chinese diplomatic accounts. They reportedly ended up with a list “nearly 250,000” names long, and included Canadian officials and a CNN account: pic.twitter.com/GYi4YuPdyu

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 3, 2023

“12. Roth saw GEC’s move as an attempt by the GEC to use intel from other agencies to ‘insert themselves’ into the content moderation club that included Twitter, Facebook, the FBI, DHS, and others,” Taibbi reported.

12.Roth saw GEC’s move as an attempt by the GEC to use intel from other agencies to “insert themselves” into the content moderation club that included Twitter, Facebook, the FBI, DHS, and others: pic.twitter.com/h0AXfTswnI

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 3, 2023

For all the censoring, banning, and exiling of users, Twitter was paid a ton of money.

“39. It all led to the situation described by @ShellenbergerMD two weeks ago, in which Twitter was paid $3,415,323, essentially for being an overwhelmed subcontractor. Twitter wasn’t just paid. For the amount of work they did for government, they were underpaid,” Taibbi noted.

https://t.co/08M51rg2BM all led to the situation described by @ShellenbergerMD two weeks ago, in which Twitter was paid $3,415,323, essentially for being an overwhelmed subcontractor.

Twitter wasn’t just paid. For the amount of work they did for government, they were underpaid.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 3, 2023

The Global Engagement Center website contends its mission is “To direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations.”

One user told Musk as he is exposing all of this, “Please stay safe Elon. Dangerously close to Epsteining yourself I’m afraid.”

The Tesla CEO responded succinctly, stating, “Everybody dies some day.”

Everybody dies some day

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2023

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