FBI 'obviously overreached' with regard to online censorship: Musk

SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk on Saturday said he supports the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for their work towards protecting the public, some people from the organisation did contact Twitter employees to censor content and suppress voices.

The 'Twitter Files' earlier alleged that top Twitter executives, including former top FBI lawyer Jim Baker, suppressed and censored former US President Donald Trump in the days before the 2020 election, finally deplatforming him on January 8, 2021 -- two days after the storming of the Capitol Hill that left five dead.

When a user asked Musk if conservative Twitter accounts are apparently being suspended for speaking out against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's speech in the US and is the FBI still working at Twitter, he replied: "To be clear, I am overall very much pro FBI. The agency does a great deal of important work protecting the public."

"That said, no organisation is perfect and part of the FBI obviously overreached with respect to online censorship," Musk added.

The latest Twitter Files claimed that the platform's executives "were clearly liaising with federal enforcement and intelligence agencies about moderation of election-related content".

The FBI came under scrutiny from some who allege the law enforcement agency ordered Twitter to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story and censor other content.

The FBI said in a response that "it is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the public misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency".