Politics to your inbox: Sign up for our On Politics newsletter Former Twitter executives denied violating First Amendment as a private company “But this isn’t a case where I was right, and others were wrong: The decisions here aren’t straightforward, and hindsight is 20/20.” “Our judgment was colored by the experience of 2016 and by the very real Russian activities we saw play out that year,” said Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former global head of trust and security, who didn’t agree with the decision to suppress the story. But the former executives said people could still post comments about the story and discuss it. The company blocked links to the story before reversing course 24 hours later. ![]() Here are seven takeaways from the hearing: Former Twitter executives call 2020 laptop decision mistake based on 2016 concernsįormer Twitter executives said elements of the New York Post story in October 2020 appeared under an “initial assessment” similar to the results from the 2016 theft of Democratic documents distributed by Wikileaks. News organizations have confirmed the legitimacy of the laptop abandoned at a Delaware repair shop in 2019, but investigations continue about what the contents mean. The laptop has become a focal point of Republican investigations because it contains a trove of documents and pictures about Hunter Biden. Democrats also questioned the basic allegations against Biden stemming from the laptop as “categorically false.” Hunter Biden's art: Hunter Biden's art dealer says his work is 'important.' Why the paintings factor into GOP probes.īut Democrats called the hearing “silly” and a "bizarre political stunt" because Twitter is a private company free to make its own decisions about what to publish. Some lawmakers called for legislation to prevent Twitter from blocking posts or government agencies from recommending against publication. The executives called the 24-hour suppression a mistake and said it was difficult to judge between contentious and dangerous speech during a campaign.Īgainst that backdrop, Republican lawmakers argued Twitter’s decision could have thrown the election to Biden rather than former President Donald Trump. WASHINGTON – The House hearing Wednesday into Twitter’s brief suppression of a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop outlined the queasiness of former executives to block it and provided a bare-knuckle arena for partisan lawmakers to debate allegations against President Joe Biden.įormer Twitter executives told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee the company blocked links to the New York Post story in October 2020 because of similarities to the posting of leaks from hacked Democratic computers before the 2016 election. ![]() Democrats called inquiry 'silly' and 'bizzare political stunt'.Republicans argued Twitter could have tipped 2020 election by suppressing story about Hunter Biden.Former Twitter executives suppressed laptop story because of concerns about Russian meddling.
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