Twitter says it is easing restrictions on posts containing or linking to potentially hacked information.
The change came as the social media giant faced harsh criticism for blocking a New York Post article. The paper published emails and photos that allegedly came from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden, son of Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Twitter not only blocked the New York Post from sharing the article, but it also blacked everyone from sharing it. Twitter continued to block, for hours, posts from some users who had tried to share the article. Retweets were allowed, but original tweets were not.
Mr. Giuliani told the Journal on Wednesday he didn’t know if the material published by the New York Post had come from a hack. On Thursday, he said on a satellite-radio program that “categorically, this has not been hacked.”https://t.co/aBthmNDT7F
— Dustin *Get Your Flu Shot* Volz (@dnvolz) October 16, 2020
Twitter said it received quite a bit of feedback – both positive and negative – after blocking the article. Now, Twitter says it will only block potentially hacked material if it is shared directly by hackers or their associates. Posts allowed will include a label.
Does Twitter’s action equate to an in-kind campaign contribution? Do you think social media companies go too far in censoring Americans? When social media began deciding what content to allow and what to block, did it open itself up to the same regulations that publishers like newspapers and broadcasters must follow?
