https://sputnikglobe.com/20221203/twittergate-key-takeaways-from-exposed-censorship-of-hunter-biden-laptop-scoop-1104993224.html
Twittergate: Key Takeaways From Exposed Censorship of Hunter Biden Laptop Scoop
Twittergate: Key Takeaways From Exposed Censorship of Hunter Biden Laptop Scoop
Sputnik International
Key takeaways from exposed twitter censorship of Hunter Biden laptop story.
2022-12-03T07:55+0000
2022-12-03T07:55+0000
2022-12-03T12:23+0000
americas
hunter biden
x (formerly twitter)
elon musk
us
laptop
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Twitter chief executive Elon Musk planted a popcorn emoji next to his promise of “awesome” revelations about how the microblogging site had opted to censor the “Hunter Biden story". And the billionaire Tesla boss followed through on his promise. The first instalment of the so-called “Twitter Files” was dropped on 2 December after Musk had provided investigative journalist Matt Taibi with the social media platform's internal documents.Twitter, conceived as a platform “to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers”, has gradually evolved into a tool for “controlling speech” by its staff and executives, independent journalist Taibbi wrote in a thread on his account. Although tailored to combat spam and financial fraudsters, over time, the company found itself “petitioned” to “manipulate speech”.The original Hunter Biden scoop and how Twitter dealt with it is a glaring case in point, according to the journalist.The exclusive story run by The New York Post on 14 October 2020 first hinted at a corruption scheme whereby Hunter Biden peddled access to his father Joe Biden (while the latter was serving as Barack Obama’s vice-president) to businessmen and women from a host of foreign entities. The details emerged after more than 200 gigabytes of data, including nearly 130,000 emails, thousands of text messages from Hunter Biden’s iPhone, photos and videos, and other files were discovered on the damaged MacBook Pro he had left at a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware. It was store owner John Paul Mac Isaac who recovered the data and zeroed in on the potentially “geopolitically sensitive” information about Hunter’s alleged shady dealings with foreign businessmen. The reporting on the story was swept under the carpet by mainstream media, denounced as a "Russian disinformation" scheme and censored by Facebook* and Twitter."The Twitter Files, Part One: How and Why Twitter Blocked the Hunter Biden Laptop Story" is based on redacted emails of employees of the social media site. Here are some of the key revelations shedding light on Twitter’s dubious censorship decision.'Unsafe' StoryTwitter posted warnings that the bombshell Hunter Biden story might be “unsafe” at an early stage, not only ditching all links to it, but even blocking its transmission via direct message (a measure used for extreme cases such as child pornography).Furthermore, White House spokeswoman at the time, Kayleigh McEnany, was locked out of her account for tweeting about the story just weeks ahead of the 2020 presidential election. This prompted Donald Trump campaign staff member Mike Hahn to pen a missive to the social media company to ask when her account would be unlocked. The response was that McEnany had violated the company’s “hacked materials” policy.'Hacked Material'A small group of top-level executives at Twitter opted to label the original Hunter Biden story as “hacked material” without any evidence. Many staff, such as, for example, Trenton Kennedy, a communications official, reportedly "struggled" to understand the “policy basis” for marking the Hunter Biden laptop story as “unsafe”. Thus, the leaked emails reveal former VP of Global Comms Brandon Borrman questioning whether they could "truthfully claim that this is part of the policy”.In response to those questioning the reasoning, former Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker appeared to argue that it was “reasonable” to assume materials were hacked and that “caution is warranted.”But despite the fact that “everyone knew this was f***ed", one former employee said, no one appeared to have the resolve to stand up to it. Indeed, at the time, a plethora of mainstream outlets also eagerly sought to discredit the story. The reporting was declared a "Russian disinformation" scheme and censored by Facebook* as well. However, a couple of mainstream media outlets confirmed that the laptop was authentic earlier this year, and that the damning information contained on the device was genuine amid ongoing Justice Department investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes and dubious foreign consulting work.'Freelanced Decision'The move to censor the laptop reporting was made behind the back of then-chief executive and co-founder Jack Dorsey. Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s former head of legal, policy, and trust, had assumed a “key role” in the decision. According to Taibbi, the leaked internal communications lay bare the truth about "how much was done without the knowledge of [Dorsey], and how long it took for the situation to get ‘unf***ed’ even after Dorsey jumped in.”Elon Musk has since teased out more revelations on the issue. ‘Twittergate’Meanwhile, the first instalment of the “Twitter Files” elicited an immediate response from the Republicans, including House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, Senators Rand Paul and Josh Hawley, and the House Republican’s official Twitter account.McCarthy vowed that after House Republicans officially take majority control of the lower chamber, in January, they intend to “get answers for the American people and the accountability they deserve.”The House Republicans’ Twitter account also tweeted to point to the revelations as showing “what collusion looks like.”Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who went on the platform to share a video of then-President Donald Trump slamming Joe Biden as a “criminal” over the damning Hunter Biden revelations, added that “Twittergate” proved that the 45th POTUS has been “right all along.”Earlier, GOP lawmakers announced a formal probe into the activities of the Biden family, citing suspected criminal activity, some of which they allege may pose a threat to national security. After gaining control of the House in November's mid-term elections, the Republicans from the chamber’s Committee on Oversight and Reform announced that a formal inquiry into the Biden family’s business activities would be conducted once the next Congress is sworn in in January 2023.*Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is banned in Russia over extremist activities.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20221203/twitter-files-reveal-internal-doubts-about-hacked-excuse-for-censoring-hunter-biden-laptop-story-1104990020.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20221125/musk-disclosure-on-twitters-censoring-of-hunter-biden-laptop-saga-needed-to-restore-public-trust-1104669663.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20221118/hunter-becomes-the-hunted-timeline-of-the-biden-laptop-saga-as-gop-announces-criminal-probe-1104383758.html
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key takeaways from twitter files, exposed twitter censorship of hunter biden laptop scoop, investigative journalist matt taibi, labeled hacked material, freelanced decision to censor hunter biden story, elon musk teased more revelations
key takeaways from twitter files, exposed twitter censorship of hunter biden laptop scoop, investigative journalist matt taibi, labeled hacked material, freelanced decision to censor hunter biden story, elon musk teased more revelations
Twittergate: Key Takeaways From Exposed Censorship of Hunter Biden Laptop Scoop
07:55 GMT 03.12.2022 (Updated: 12:23 GMT 03.12.2022) Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, he has hinted at a series of revelations about how the social media site - along with Facebook* - was eager to censor the Hunter Biden "laptop from Hell" story ahead of and during the 2020 presidential election.
Twitter chief executive Elon Musk planted a popcorn emoji next to his promise of “awesome” revelations about how the microblogging site had opted
to censor the “Hunter Biden story". And the billionaire Tesla boss followed through on his promise. The first instalment of the so-called “Twitter Files” was dropped on 2 December after Musk had provided investigative journalist Matt Taibi with the social media platform's internal documents
.Twitter, conceived as a platform “to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers”, has gradually evolved into a tool for “controlling speech” by its staff and executives, independent journalist Taibbi wrote in a thread on his account. Although tailored to combat spam and financial fraudsters, over time, the company found itself “petitioned” to “manipulate speech”.
The original
Hunter Biden scoop and how Twitter dealt with it is a glaring case in point, according to the journalist.
The exclusive story run by The New York Post on 14 October 2020 first hinted at a corruption scheme whereby Hunter Biden
peddled access to his father Joe Biden (while the latter was serving as Barack Obama’s vice-president) to businessmen and women from a host of foreign entities. The details emerged after more than 200 gigabytes of data, including nearly 130,000 emails, thousands of text messages from Hunter Biden’s iPhone, photos and videos, and other files were discovered on the damaged MacBook Pro he had left at a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware.
3 December 2022, 04:22 GMT
It was store owner John Paul Mac Isaac who recovered the data and zeroed in on the potentially “geopolitically sensitive” information about Hunter’s alleged shady dealings with foreign businessmen. The reporting on the story was
swept under the carpet by mainstream media, denounced as a "Russian disinformation" scheme and censored by Facebook* and Twitter.
"The Twitter Files, Part One: How and Why Twitter Blocked the Hunter Biden Laptop Story" is based on redacted emails of employees of the social media site. Here are some of the key revelations shedding light on Twitter’s dubious censorship decision.
Twitter posted warnings that the bombshell Hunter Biden story might be “unsafe” at an early stage, not only ditching all links to it, but even blocking its transmission via direct message (a measure used for extreme cases such as child pornography).
Furthermore, White House spokeswoman at the time, Kayleigh McEnany, was locked out of her account for tweeting about the story just weeks ahead of the 2020 presidential election. This prompted Donald Trump campaign staff member Mike Hahn to pen a missive to the social media company to ask when her account would be unlocked. The response was that McEnany had violated the company’s “hacked materials” policy.
A small group of top-level executives at Twitter opted to label the original Hunter Biden story as “hacked material” without any evidence. Many staff, such as, for example, Trenton Kennedy, a communications official, reportedly "struggled" to understand the “policy basis” for marking the Hunter Biden laptop story as “unsafe”. Thus, the leaked emails reveal former VP of Global Comms Brandon Borrman questioning whether they could "truthfully claim that this is part of the policy”.
In response to those questioning the reasoning, former Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker appeared to argue that it was “reasonable” to assume materials were hacked and that “caution is warranted.”
But despite the fact that “everyone knew this was f***ed", one former employee said, no one appeared to have the resolve to stand up to it.
Indeed, at the time, a plethora of mainstream outlets also eagerly sought to discredit the story. The reporting was declared a "Russian disinformation" scheme and censored by Facebook* as well. However, a couple of mainstream media outlets confirmed that the laptop was authentic earlier this year, and that the damning information contained on the device was genuine amid ongoing Justice Department investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes and dubious foreign consulting work.
The move to censor the laptop reporting was made behind the back of then-chief executive and co-founder Jack Dorsey. Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s former head of legal, policy, and trust, had assumed a “key role” in the decision. According to Taibbi, the leaked internal communications lay bare the truth about "how much was done without the knowledge of [Dorsey], and how long it took for the situation to get ‘unf***ed’ even after Dorsey jumped in.”
25 November 2022, 05:54 GMT
Elon Musk has since teased out more revelations on the issue.
Meanwhile, the first instalment of the “Twitter Files” elicited an immediate response from the Republicans, including House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, Senators Rand Paul and Josh Hawley, and the House Republican’s official Twitter account.
McCarthy vowed that after House Republicans officially take majority control of the lower chamber, in January, they intend to “get answers for the American people and the accountability they deserve.”
The House Republicans’ Twitter account also tweeted to point to the revelations as showing “what collusion looks like.”
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who went on the platform to share a video of then-President Donald Trump slamming Joe Biden as a “criminal” over the damning Hunter Biden revelations, added that “Twittergate” proved that the 45th POTUS has been “right all along.”
Earlier, GOP
lawmakers announced a formal probe into the activities of the Biden family, citing suspected criminal activity, some of which they allege may pose a threat to national security. After gaining control of the House in November's mid-term elections, the Republicans from the chamber’s Committee on Oversight and Reform announced that a formal inquiry into the Biden family’s business activities would be conducted once the next Congress is sworn in in January 2023.
18 November 2022, 12:39 GMT
*Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is banned in Russia over extremist activities.
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