BIRDBRAINED
Twitter CEO admits suppressing NY Post’s Hunter Biden ‘crack and Ukraine’ scoop was ‘unacceptable’ as Trump bashes sites
TWITTER CEO Jack Dorsey admitted on Wednesday night that his social media company’s action blocking links to the Hunter Biden "crack, sex and Ukraine" email scoop from the New York Post was “unacceptable.”
Dorsey’s apologetic tweet came nearly two hours after President Donald Trump slammed Twitter and Facebook for reportedly censoring the Post’s Wednesday front page story.
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“Our communication around our actions on the @nypost article was not great,” Dorsey .
“And blocking URL sharing via tweet or DM with zero context as to why we’re blocking: unacceptable.”
Dorsey quote tweeted an earlier post by Twitter Safety stating: “We want to provide much needed clarity around the actions we’ve taken with respect to two NY Post articles that were first Tweeted this morning.”
Twitter users reported issues when attempting to share a link to the Post’s report that Biden was seen "smoking crack during a " in a video revealed along with emails that allegedly showed he did introduce a Ukraine executive to his dad Joe, when he was vice president.
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When political commentator Dave Rubin replied to Dorsey’s thread asking, “Do you shadowban based on political beliefs? Simple yes or no will do…” the Twitter CEO answered, “No.”
On Wednesday evening, Trump threatened to undo Section 230, a protections law exempting companies like Twitter and Facebook from liability for content that users post on the platforms.
“So terrible that Facebook and Twitter took down the story of ‘Smoking Gun’ emails related to Sleepy Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in the @NYPost,” Trump .
“It is only the beginning for them. There is nothing worse than a corrupt politician. REPEAL SECTION 230!”
![The story about Hunter Bidenm and his father 'is eligible to be fact-checked by [our] third-party fact-checking partners,' Facebook said](http://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/10/NINTCHDBPICT000555758628-2.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
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Dorsey’s apology came only after Twitter locked White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s personal account because she shared the Post’s story.
McEnany responded to the locking through her government @PressSec account.
“Censorship should be condemned! cc: @Twitter & Facebook NOT the American way,” she .
Screenshots showed that McEnany got a message stating that her tweet violated Twitter’s rules.
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Late Wednesday night, McEnany’s personal Twitter account was still visible but had a note stating, “This Tweet is no longer available.”
It also included a retweet of Trump’s post slamming Twitter and Facebook.
Earlier on Wednesday, Andy Stone, policy communications manager, said that the Post's story had been deliberately buried by the social network.
Stone tweeted: "While I will intentionally not link to the New York Post, I want be clear that this story is eligible to be fact-checked by Facebook’s third-party fact-checking partners.
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"In the meantime, we are reducing its distribution on our platform."
Twitter users then reported the following error message when trying to post the story: "We can't complete this request because this link has been identified by or our partners as being potentially harmful."
A Twitter spokesperson told : "In line with our Hacked Materials Policy, as well as our approach to blocking URLs, we are taking action to block any links to or images of the material in question on Twitter.";
Senator Ted Cruz fumed on Twitter about the restrictions, writing: "TWITTER HAS DISABLED THE LINK to the @nypost story. @jack what the hell?? I don’t know if the allegations are true—Qs that deserve to be answered. It’s a serious news publication raising evidence of corruption at the highest levels. @twitter shouldn’t act as Biden’s PR team.
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The restrictions came after the story revealed emails and the "smoking crack during a sex act" video, amid scrutiny over Hunter’s job at oil and gas giant Burisma.
Explosive emails appear to show that VP met with Burisma exec Vadym Pozharskyi while the Ukrainian was in the US, reports the .
A spokesperson for Joe Biden denied any such meeting in a statement on Wednesday.
The emails come from a trove of files found on a damaged MacBook Pro, which was dropped off at a repair shop in Biden's home state of Delaware.
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Among the files is reportedly a 12-minute video of Hunter engaging in a sex act with an unidentified woman, according to The Post.
He is apparently seen smoking in the video.
The 50-year-old has been open about his struggles with addiction.
The laptop was also said to have other files, including sexually explicit pictures.
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The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is now investigating the trove of documents, reported.
According to the outlet, the senate is working with the repairman to verify the documents.
Hunter joined the Burisma board in 2014 on a salary reportedly up to $50,000-a-month, despite having no prior experience.
Emails published The Post reveal Pozharskyi thanked for introducing him to his dad in a message sent on April 17, 2015.
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It reads: "Dear Hunter, thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent [sic] some time together.
"It’s realty [sic] an honor and pleasure."
And in another email from May 2014, Pozharskyi asks Hunter for "advice on how you could use your influence" on behalf of Burisma.
Biden had claimed he had "never spoken" to Hunter about his overseas business dealings - something which the emails appear to refute.
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FBI agents seized the computer and hard drive last December after the shop owner alerted the feds - and he also gave a copy of the files to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello.
The New York Post reports ex- advisor alerted the newspaper of the existence of the hard drive, and Trump ally provided a copy of the files on Sunday.
Trump claims Hunter's job was instrumental in Biden pressuring the Ukrainian government into firing prosecutors Viktor Shokin who he claims was investigating Burisma.
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The allegations are disputed - with officials claiming Shokin was actually fired for failing to investigation corruption.
Ukrainian prosecutors also said earlier this year there was no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Hunter Biden.
In a statement on Wednesday, Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates hit back at allegations detailed in The Post.
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"Investigations by the press, during impeachment, and even by two Republican-led Senate committees whose work was decried as 'not legitimate' and political by a GOP colleague have all reached the same conclusion: that Joe Biden carried out official U.S. policy toward Ukraine and engaged in no wrongdoing," Bates said.
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"Trump administration officials have attested to these facts under oath.
Bates added: "Moreover, we have reviewed Joe Biden's official schedules from the time and no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place.
Kayleigh McEnany says Twitter 'essentially have her at gunpoint' over Hunter Biden tweet
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