Following contentious Congressional testimony this week from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and a 22% drop on Friday, the social media giant finally decided to unlock the New York Post's account just days before the general election - after more than two weeks in Twitter jail for posting a negative article on the company's preferred candidate, Joe Biden.
In a Friday afternoon thread, Twitter Safety wrote that their policies are 'living documents' which they're willing to 'update and adjust when we encounter new scenarios or receive important feedback from the public.'
The company says they're 'updating our practice of not retroactively overturning prior enforcement," and have decided to let the Post have their account back.
In response, we’re updating our practice of not retroactively overturning prior enforcement.
Decisions made under policies that are subsequently changed & published can now be appealed if the account at issue is a driver of that change. We believe this is fair and appropriate. — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 30, 2020
This means that because a specific @nypost enforcement led us to update the Hacked Materials Policy, we will no longer restrict their account under the terms of the previous policy and they can now Tweet again. — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 30, 2020
The Post responds:
We’re baaaaaaack https://t.co/D39qdLGMdV pic.twitter.com/SkVtp4o9ew — New York Post (@nypost) October 30, 2020
In short, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) was able to stop Twitter's obvious election meddling by silencing one of the largest (and oldest) outlets in the country.
Sen. Ted Cruz:
“Mr. Dorsey, who the hell elected you? And put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report, and what the American people are allowed to hear... and why do you persist in behaving as a Democratic super PAC?" pic.twitter.com/lrC9II2MxL — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 28, 2020
The move also comes after DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf penned a scorching letter to Twitter demanding answers over why they've censored Customs and Border Protection senior official Mark Morgan over a post touting the southern border wall as helping to "stop gang members, murderers, sexual predators, and drugs from entering our country." It appears his account is still locked, however.
Twitter’s censoring of factual information poses a threat to national security.
It should not be up to corporate bureaucrats to determine what security information the American public receives. https://t.co/9WzHcn4HLn pic.twitter.com/4lHJW5vEpZ — Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) October 30, 2020
After weeks of grandstanding from @Twitter, it’s good to have the @nypost back. — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 30, 2020
TWITTER SAYS WILL NO LONGER RESTRICT NEW YORK POST ACCOUNT pic.twitter.com/RLDldPMaiq — zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 30, 2020
The company was last able to post on October 14, the day they dropped a bombshell report regarding alleged incriminating contents on Hunter Biden's laptop.
Earlier in the day, CNN's Jake Tapper suggested the post simply bend the knee and delete the offending tweet.
Earlier today, Jake Tapper donned the Big Tech gimp suit, climbed out on a limb like a good little helper, and demanded New York Post sign the false confession demanded by Tapper's Big Tech dom.
And then Twitter sawed that limb right off. https://t.co/q97QC75LPu — Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 30, 2020
Meanwhile, the Post has gained nearly 200,000 new followers since being locked out.
On 10/14, FB announced that the @nypost's bombshell re Hunter Biden was eligible to be fact checked, and "in the meantime, [they] are reducing its distribution on [their] platform." Despite the preemptive censorship, @nypost has gained 47,390 new page likes. This spike 😍 pic.twitter.com/oIXlZueghz — Tyler Cardon (@TyCardon) October 30, 2020