IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 9, 2023
Twitter Whistleblower Testifies to Mismanagement of the January 6th Insurrection at House Oversight Committee Hearing
WASHINGTON—On February 8, 2023, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a hearing titled “Protecting Speech from Government Interference and Social Media Bias, Part 1: Twitter’s Role in Suppressing the Biden Laptop Story.” Government Accountability Project acted as co-counsel with The Signals Network to represent Twitter whistleblower Anika Collier Navaroli as she testified to the importance of regulating social media and the dangers already experienced when nothing is done.
Navaroli is a former policy official who was the most senior expert working on Twitter’s content-moderation guidelines at the time of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. In September 2022, Navaroli went public as one of the Twitter whistleblowers who gave evidence to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack regarding Twitter’s refusal to remove content fomenting and then foreseeably culminating in the violent January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol .
During yesterday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, Navaroli offered an expert perspective on how essential holding social media companies accountable is, stating:
“If we’re here to talk social media and the government, we need to talk about Twitter’s failure to act before January 6th. I’m here to tell you that doing nothing is not an option. If we continue to do nothing, violence is going to happen again.”
Government Accountability Project’s Senior Counsel and Democracy Protection Initiative Director Dana Gold said,
“Ms. Navaroli was Twitter’s expert watchdog against speech that promoted hatred and violence. Her testimony, first as a whistleblower before the January 6 committee, and again at yesterday’s hearing, detailed how Twitter’s policy violations and management breakdowns were bi-partisan. Her warnings about the threats unchecked social media pose to democracy through the spread of violence and disinformation should be heeded by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle alike. We are honored to support brave tech whistleblowers like Ms. Navaroli who deserve both protection and gratitude from Congress and all Americans.”
Contact: Andrew Harman, Government Accountability Project Communications Director
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202.926.3304
Government Accountability Project
Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, Government Accountability Project’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, Government Accountability Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.