“The Twitter Files, Part One: How and Why Twitter Blocked the Hunter Biden Laptop Story,” Taibbi began, explaining that “On October 14, 2020, the New York Post published BIDEN SECRET EMAILS, an expose based on the contents of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop.”
16. The Twitter Files, Part One: How and Why Twitter Blocked the Hunter Biden Laptop Story
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
In response to the story, which according to the New York Post would have changed the minds of many voters in the 2020 election had they known about the Hunter Biden laptop, Twitter took extraordinary action to suppress the story claiming that it broke the platform’s hacked material policy.
“Twitter took extraordinary steps to suppress the story, removing links and posting warnings that it may be ‘unsafe.'” the journalist explained in the Twitter thread. “They even blocked its transmission via direct message, a tool hitherto reserved for extreme cases, e.g. child pornography.”
18. Twitter took extraordinary steps to suppress the story, removing links and posting warnings that it may be “unsafe.” They even blocked its transmission via direct message, a tool hitherto reserved for extreme cases, e.g. child pornography.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
“White House spokeswoman Kaleigh McEnany was locked out of her account for tweeting about the story,” Taibbi explained, adding that it prompted “a furious letter from Trump campaign staffer Mike Hahn, who seethed: ‘At least pretend to care for the next 20 days.'”
19. White House spokeswoman Kaleigh McEnany was locked out of her account for tweeting about the story, prompting a furious letter from Trump campaign staffer Mike Hahn, who seethed: “At least pretend to care for the next 20 days.” pic.twitter.com/CcXTfsdzCT
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
Taibbi then goes on to explain that there was tension within Twitter between the communications team and the safety team on why the story was being suppressed, however, the decision to censor the story came from some of the top executives of the social media giant: “The decision was made at the highest levels of the company, but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, with the former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde playing a key role.”
“‘They just freelanced it,'” one employee told Taibbi in response to the handling of the New York Post story. “‘Hacking was the excuse, but within a few hours, pretty much everyone realized that wasn’t going to hold. But no one had the guts to reverse it.'” the Twitter source explained.
24. “They just freelanced it,” is how one former employee characterized the decision. “Hacking was the excuse, but within a few hours, pretty much everyone realized that wasn’t going to hold. But no one had the guts to reverse it.”
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
MUSK SAYS RESTORING TRUMP TO TWITTER CORRECTED A “GRAVE MISTAKE”
In the subsequent hours and days following the marking of the story as “unsafe,” Twitter employees went back and forth attempting to create a justification for censoring the story with the vice president of global communications asking, “Can we truthfully claim that this is part of the policy?”
27. Former VP of Global Comms Brandon Borrman asks, “Can we truthfully claim that this is part of the policy?” pic.twitter.com/Rh5HL8prOZ
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
Taibbi then goes on to showcase an exchange between Twitter employees and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) who reached out to Twitter to express concerns over free speech: “Generating huge backlash on hill re speech.”
In response, the head of legal, policy, and trust Vijaya Gadde argued that the story was in violation of Twitter policy saying that the story had “private information and link[ed] directly to hacked materials.”
Rep. Khanna then responded back to Gadde explaining, “This seems a violation of First Amendment principles. If there is a hack of classified information or other information that could expose a serious war crime and the NYT was to publish it, I think the NYT should have that right. A journalist should not be held accountable for the illegal actions of the source unless they actively aided the hack. So to restrict the distribution of that material, especially regarding a Presidential candidate, seems to not be in the keeping of the principles of NYT v. Sullivan.”
32.Khanna tries to reroute the conversation to the First Amendment, mention of which is generally hard to find in the files: pic.twitter.com/Tq6l7VMuQL
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
Taibbi also showcased a letter sent to Twitter executives explaining the response to their censorship on Capitol Hill with the letter explaining that Democrats wanted more suppression: “The Democrats were in agreement: social media needs to moderate more because they’re corrupting democracy and making all ‘truth’ relative. When pushed on how the government might insist on that, consistent with the First Amendment, they demurred: ‘the First Amendment isn’t absolute.”
It is clear that Twitter purposefully silenced the Hunter Biden laptop story with lackluster justifications in an attempt to suppress a story that would have hurt the then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. Their interconnectedness with the Democrat Party showcases the conspiratorial environment within the halls of Twitter as employees bowed to the wishes of Democrats to punish conservatives attempting to reveal the truth.
