# Twitter Files by Matt Taibbi

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/twitter-files/

6 people recommended Twitter Files by Matt Taibbi in Hacker News comments and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 12 months, in 6 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a starting point for Matt Taibbi's award-winning reporting on Twitter's internal moderation. Critics call much of it overblown or discredited.

Summary written by Claude from 10 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 9 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Good starting point for newcomers (3 comments in the sample): "Go start with the Twitter Files as reported by Matt Taibbi." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46170595)) "I’d tell you to check out the “Twitter Files" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49441680)) "This is a good place to start" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45811318))
- Reporting that angered many factions (2 comments in the sample): "Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi were both outcast from liberal media for their extensive reporting on it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46790210)) "His work has angered every political faction at one time or another." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45838392))

## What people warn about

- Seen as a Musk PR campaign (1 comment in the sample): "you fell for the Twitter Files, which was… precisely that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45811372))

## Other articles people recommend

- [Programming as Theory Building by Peter Naur](https://hackerapproved.com/p/programming-as-theory-building/): 29 recommend, 1 mixed, 0 criticize
- [Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ur-fascism/): 16 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize
- [The Grug Brained Developer by Carson Gross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grug-brained-developer/): 12 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize
- [Politics and the English Language by George Orwell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/politics-and-the-english-language/): 12 recommend, 2 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Twitter Files by Matt Taibbi", https://hackerapproved.com/p/twitter-files/ (6 recommend, 0 mixed, 3 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.