Twitter Backtracks on ‘Hacked Materials’ Policy, Admits Blocking Links Is ‘Wrong’

Twitter Chairman and Square CEO Jack Dorsey moderates a panel discussion with Detroit entr
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty, Bill Pugliano/Getty

Following Twitter’s decision to censor all links to the New York Post’s bombshell story revealing that Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden allegedly met with executives from a Ukrainian energy firm employing his son, Hunter Biden, on the basis of its “hacked materials” policy, the company has announced big changes to the policy. CEO Jack Dorsey added that “Straight blocking of URLs was wrong, and we updated our policy and enforcement to fix.”

The Washington Post reports that Twitter has decided to make a change to its policies relating to the sharing of “hacked materials” which resulted in the New York Post’s recent story about Hunter Biden’s business relationships being blocked. The company has faced intense pressure from conservatives and even some leftists in response to its massive censorship.

Breitbart News recently reported on the New York Post’s bombshell story that indicated that Joe Biden may have met with an adviser to the board of Burisma while he was Vice President, arranged by his son Hunter, who was working as a lobbyist for the company at the time. Joe Biden has previously said, “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.”

But, the leaked emails allegedly show that Hunter introduced his father to a Bursima executive less than a year before Biden, acting as Vice President, pressured the Ukrainian government into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company. Shortly after the story broke, many found themselves having trouble sharing it across social media. This censorship comes just weeks after executives from both Facebook and Twitter joined the Biden transition team.

Twitter executive Vijaya Gadde stated in a tweet that the decision came after receiving feedback following the censoring of the Post’s story. Gadde’s tweet can be seen below:

Gadde, who leads the company’s legal, policy, and trust and safety divisions, commented: “Content moderation is incredibly difficult, especially in the critical context of an election. We are trying to act responsibly & quickly to prevent harms, but we’re still learning along the way.”

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey quote tweeted Gadde adding: “Straight blocking of URLs was wrong, and we updated our policy and enforcement to fix. Dorsey added, “Our goal is to attempt to add context, and now we have capabilities to do that.”

Twitter not only censored the Post’s story across its platform but also temporarily locked the accounts of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany as well as the New York Post’s official account. Notices were added to their tweets stating that they had violated Twitter’s rules on prohibiting the publishing of hacked materials. Twitter also temporarily locked the account of the Trump campaign.

Read more about Big Tech’s reaction to the latest Biden scandal at Breitbart News here. 

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com

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