Twitter said it had changed its policy and lifted a freeze it placed on the account of the New York Post after the newspaper published articles about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son.
Reuters reported that the New York Post can now send tweets again, without getting into specifics of why the newspaper was blocked only that on October 14, Twitter had said the stories violated its hacked materials policy.
According to the New York Post and several other media outlets, the material outlining Hunter Biden’s dealings with Ukraine and with China, was not hacked. This was confirmed by the US intelligence services and the FBI. The information had come from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden.
When the story broke, the social media platform blocked the newspaper’s account and prevented the article from being shared by other Twitter users.
“We will no longer restrict their account under the terms of the previous policy and they can now tweet again,” Twitter said.
Earlier this week, Twitter’s Chief Executive Jack Dorsey drew fire from Republican lawmakers, who accused the company of selective censorship against conservatives, reported Reuters.
“Who the hell elected you and put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report?” Senator Ted Cruz asked Dorsey during the hearing.
The New York Post tweeted a picture featuring Twitter’s bird logo flying out of a cage, with the caption “Twitter backs down, finally unlocks Post account after Biden ban.”
News Corp, which owns the New York Post, said Twitter’s decision had a negative commercial impact on the newspaper but that its decision today is an important moment for freedom of the press.
“The arbitrary blocking of the Post was a significant moment during a critical time in this election season,” News Corp said in a statement.
REUTERS