Episode Details

On October 11, 2018, The Free Thought Project was swept up in the mass purge of independent media from social media. Years of work and an audience of millions disappeared. Matt Taibbi was one of the few mainstream journalists who recognized the stakes, interviewed us for Rolling Stone, and treated our removal as a serious threat to free speech.

Eight years later, we’re revisiting our March 2025 conversation with him.

With this week’s guest canceling and Jason traveling next week, we’re bringing back an interview that means a great deal to us—with a new introduction from Jason Bassler and Matt Agorist reflecting on the purge, its lasting consequences, and what stood out when listening again.

In the original interview, we explore how Taibbi came to cover our deplatforming and what his reporting helped us understand about the apparatus surrounding it. We discuss the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, accusations that misrepresented our work, and the overlap between government interests, Big Tech, and organizations claiming to fight “disinformation.”

The conversation also examines censorship across party lines, including Trump’s executive order concerning anti-Israel speech on college campuses. Taibbi shares his experience of having his reach suppressed on Elon Musk’s platform after helping expose censorship through the Twitter Files—and the financial and personal toll that followed.

These discussions were recorded in March 2025. We’re sharing them again because the anniversary deserves more than a passing mention—and because rebuilding an independent outlet doesn’t erase what happened to it.

▶️ Listen to the replay, featuring our new introduction.

They called it fighting disinformation. We got to call it rebuilding our livelihood. Sponsored by Above Phone — the secure, open‑source smartphone built for privacy and freedom. Learn more at https://abovephone.com/TFTP

Read Matt: https://www.racket.news/ Follow Matt: https://x.com/mtaibbi  Support The Free Thought Project