Image Credit: Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times via Getty Images 
Update (2000ET): Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock all day, you’ll know that Twitter and Facebook have been escalating their censorship of a shocking New York Post story showing emails (to and from Hunter Biden) that clearly contradict Joe Biden’s claims that he never discussed business with his son.
The authenticity of the contents of the emails was not denied by the Biden campaign and furthermore, the possibility of an off-the-books meeting between the VP and the Ukrainian executive was not denied:
Several GOP lawmakers got officially ‘involved’, including Rep Jim Jordan, who issued his own letter to Facebook demanding an explanation for why it decided to censor the Hunter Biden story.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 14, 2020
Facebook reiterated its warning that that the U.S.’s foreign adversaries, including Russia, might seek to trick journalists into amplifying hacked or inaccurate content they want to spread ahead of an election.
Owen and Deanna talk about the explosive revelations about Hunter Biden, the upcoming rallies, and what may go down in these last days before the elections.
Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of security policy, issued this warning again Wednesday on Twitter, “given this morning’s news cycle.” He did not directly say whether this was why Facebook took action on the New York Post content.
Then Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey offered his comment, rapidly backpedaling on the actions his firm had taken:
Our communication around our actions on the @nypost article was not great. And blocking URL sharing via tweet or DM with zero context as to why we’re blocking: unacceptable. https://t.co/v55vDVVlgt
— jack (@jack) October 14, 2020
Which sounded somewhat genuine, until the company attempted to provide “much needed clarity” about its decision.
The company then tried to cover its action by laying out a step-by-step explanation of how the story violated its terms of service. Notably, many of the examples it offered are routinely exhibited in news stories of all kinds.
The main offense that it’s leaning on: publishing personal photos without the explicit permission of the subject.
News media have long respected the privacy of private individuals, but when it comes to public figures, all bets are off. At least that’s what many reporters are taught in journalism school.
“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.”
The images contained in the articles include personal and private information — like email addresses and phone numbers — which violate our rules.https://t.co/plPa5SZ3we
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
As noted this morning, we also currently view materials included in the articles as violations of our Hacked Materials Policy.https://t.co/gCY4BnBHHa
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
Commentary on or discussion about hacked materials, such as articles that cover them but do not include or link to the materials themselves, aren’t a violation of this policy. Our policy only covers links to or images of hacked material themselves.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
The policy, established in 2018, prohibits the use of our service to distribute content obtained without authorization. We don’t want to incentivize hacking by allowing Twitter to be used as distribution for possibly illegally obtained materials.https://t.co/qx9rlzWH4O
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
We know we have more work to do to provide clarity in our product when we enforce our rules in this manner. We should provide additional clarity and context when preventing the Tweeting or DMing of URLs that violate our policies.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
We recognize that Twitter is just one of many places where people can find information online, and the Twitter Rules are intended to protect the conversation on our service, and to add context to people’s experience where we can.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) October 14, 2020
Did President Trump give NBC News permission to publish that recording of him talking to Billy Bush?
Oh and one more thing…
"obtained without authorization"
Trump's tax records were given to The New York Times "without authorization" and Twitter made sure that it was the top trending story for days https://t.co/9pJIfzvwSh
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 15, 2020
Of course, conservatives immediately pointed out that it’s not Twitter’s communication skills that are the issue.
Your “communication” is not the problem. The problem is your totalitarian censorship, your election interference, and the fact that you allow genocidal terrorists to threaten Jews while banning elected U.S. officials from sharing American journalism. https://t.co/F0CrgP6GP7
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 15, 2020
And another user pointed out the irony of journalists backing Twitter’s explanation.
Journalists carrying water for a digital platform suppressing certain types of journalism is a creepy phenomenon that will not end well for anyone, least of all journalists. https://t.co/J4JlnQQGqg
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) October 14, 2020
We have one warning for Mr.Dorsey, stay out of the way of (soon to be Congresswoman Laura Loomer):
Now, as we wait to learn more about Facebook’s thought process, will Zuckerberg personally weigh in?
When will this be stopped? As Tucker Carlson said tonight: “Soon we’re going to do a show where we just read the names of all the Republicans…who refused to lift a finger to save you from what you correctly described as this grave moment in American history.”
Tucker Carlson & @esaagar Discuss The Future Of Big Tech Censorship
Tucker: "Soon we're going to do a show where we just read the names of all the Republicans…who refused to lift a finger to save you from what you correctly described as this grave moment in American history." pic.twitter.com/wOzDeFEDWH
— The Columbia Bugle
(@ColumbiaBugle) October 15, 2020