Researchers at Stanford University—in partnership with several nonprofits that have received government funding—worked with social media platforms to flag and suppress commentary on COVID vaccines, science, and policy that contradicted public health officials' stances, even when that commentary was true.

Author and journalist Matt Taibbi fielded scathing questions by House Democrats on Thursday as he sought to defend his contributions to the so-called “Twitter Files” during a hearing for the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

The hearing became tense at times, with the top Democrat on the panel, Del. Stacey Plaskett (U.S. Virgin Islands), repeatedly pushing back against the top Republican, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Jordan and others in his party allege federal agencies have been unfairly targeting conservatives.

Matt Taibbi, who published the Twitter Files late last year, defended his record of reporting at a congressional hearing on Thursday after Democratic Virgin Islands Representative Stacey Plaskett called him a "so-called" journalist.

Taibbi and fellow journalist Michael Shellenberger were present at a hearing held by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government Hearing to discuss the Twitter Files.

Representative Stacey Plaskett (D., Virgin Islands) ripped into Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger during a Thursday hearing on the Twitter Files, accusing the pair of journalists of endangering the lives of Twitter employees by exposing how the social-media platform partnered with various federal agencies to censor disfavored political views.