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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sparked a wave of backlash after he issued what many saw as a non-apology for the company’s outright censorship of a story on Hunter Biden.
Hours after Twitter came under heavy fire for blocking tweets linking to a New York Post report on leaked emails connected to former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Dorsey cited company policies in an effort to explain the partisan censorship. But many were not buying his explanation and called it out as another example of “election interference.”
Dorsey admitted Wednesday that it was “unacceptable” for the social media company to block sharing of the New York Post story that was published earlier that day.
The bombshell report shared a leaked email that allegedly showed communication between Hunter Biden and a top executive of the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma. The email indicated that the younger Biden had arranged a meeting between the official and his father who was vice president at the time. The Biden campaign denied that any such meeting ever occurred.
The Post’s primary Twitter account was locked after the story came out and users were blocked from sharing it, setting off a firestorm of criticism against the tech company, and even Facebook which limited distribution of the original story.
.@Twitter and @Facebook’s censorship of the @nypost story on a meeting between Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, and Burisma is an obvious and transparent attempt to influence the upcoming election. That’s why today I sent a letter seeking answers behind this censorship. pic.twitter.com/fq1aCUbH5X
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) October 14, 2020
“Our communication around our actions on the @nypost article was not great. And blocking URL sharing via tweet or DM with zero context as to why we’re blocking: unacceptable,” Dorsey tweeted Wednesday in a statement meant to “provide much needed clarity.”
Our communication around our actions on the @nypost article was not great. And blocking URL sharing via tweet or DM with zero context as to why we’re blocking: unacceptable. https://t.co/v55vDVVlgt
— jack (@jack) October 14, 2020
The Twitter Safety account then tried to explain the company’s policies and the enforcement of its rules.
“The images contained in the articles include personal and private information — like email addresses and phone numbers — which violate our rules. As noted this morning, we also currently view materials included in the articles as violations of our Hacked Materials Policy,” the account tweeted.
The images contained in the articles include personal and private information — like email addresses and phone numbers — which violate our rules.https://t.co/plPa5SZ3we
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
“Commentary on or discussion about hacked materials, such as articles that cover them but do not include or link to the materials themselves, aren’t a violation of this policy,” the explanation continued. “Our policy only covers links to or images of hacked material themselves.”
Commentary on or discussion about hacked materials, such as articles that cover them but do not include or link to the materials themselves, aren’t a violation of this policy. Our policy only covers links to or images of hacked material themselves.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
“We don’t want to incentivize hacking by allowing Twitter to be used as distribution for possibly illegally obtained materials,” the Twitter Safety account added, essentially apologizing for not clarifying the policies rather than addressing the censorship itself.
The rules, Twitter explained, “are intended to protect the conversation on our service, and to add context to people’s experience where we can.”
We recognize that Twitter is just one of many places where people can find information online, and the Twitter Rules are intended to protect the conversation on our service, and to add context to people’s experience where we can.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
This attempt to “clarify” backfired as it sparked another round of outrage with critics slamming Dorsey for the “selective” enforcement of policies, such as the many times Twitter allowed unverified and anonymously sourced reports on President Trump to be shared.
No amount of “great” communicating would make suppressing a newspaper article acceptable, especially since Twitter was for two years an open sewer of misinformation about Trump-Russia collusion. https://t.co/9EqRjCagfV
— Brit Hume (@brithume) October 15, 2020
No
— jack (@jack) October 15, 2020
Maybe it wasn’t just the lack of context but the action itself
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) October 15, 2020
There is no evidence that the emails were obtained via “hacking.” Please revise.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 15, 2020
YOU SHOULD NOT BE INTERFERING IN ELECTIONS ON BEHALF OF YOUR PREFERRED CANDIDATE PERIOD.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 15, 2020
.@Twitter @jack this is not nearly good enough. In fact, it’s a joke. It’s downright insulting. I will ask you – and @Facebook – to give an explanation UNDER OATH to the Senate subcommittee I chair. These are potential violations of election law, and that’s a crime https://t.co/Rylva8UJv9
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) October 15, 2020
Weird how your shitty communicators and censorship always seem to come down against republicans and in favor of democrats. The senate needs to haul your ass down to DC — again — so you can answer some questions.
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) October 15, 2020
how about you stop censoring and you won’t have to explain why you’re censoring
— Jessica O’Donnell (@heckyessica) October 15, 2020
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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