Twitter Backs Down, Unlocks New York Post’s Twitter Account
News Corp: “This is an important moment for journalism and for the freedom of the press.”
![https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1316446749729398790](https://c3.legalinsurrection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Sohrab-Ahmari-Tweet-Not-Sent-Biden-e1602726053764.jpg)
In a transparent, clearly partisan attempt to squelch the New York Post’s bombshell report on Biden family influence peddling, Twitter took the unusual and alarming step of not only locking the Post‘s Twitter account but of blocking all Twitter users from sharing the link to/url of the story.
Needless to say, the move created a wave of criticism and backlash that prompted Twitter to shift course, to allow the sharing of the Post story, and to change its “Hacked Materials policy” (even though it did not apply to the Post story, Twitter initially insisted that it did).
What it did not do, however, was prompt Twitter to unlock the Post‘s Twitter account. Indeed, Twitter demanded that the Post delete its links to their own reporting before it would release the Post from the #TwitterGulag.
In a bizarre power struggle, Twitter insisted on the deletions . . . but would permit the Post to repost the exact same tweets. The Post said no way would they bow to this petty tech tyranny, and after two weeks, Twitter relented.
We’re baaaaaaack https://t.co/D39qdLGMdV pic.twitter.com/SkVtp4o9ew
— New York Post (@nypost) October 30, 2020
“How tweet it is,” the Post celebrated.
Twitter backed down Friday in its battle with The Post and unlocked its main account after a two-week stalemate over the Hunter Biden exposé.
The move came after The Post refused Twitter’s demand that it delete six tweets that linked to stories that the company claimed — without any evidence — were based on hacked information.
The Post never budged, and kept the tweets on the account during the standoff — even as Twitter obscured them from view.
In a series of tweets, the social-media giant said it was revising its “Hacked Materials Policy” and “updating our practice of not retroactively overturning prior enforcement.”
“Our policies are living documents,” said one of the tweets from @TwitterSafety.
“We’re willing to update and adjust them when we encounter new scenarios or receive important feedback from the public.”
. . . . On Friday, the company said that under its latest policy revision, “Decisions made under policies that are subsequently changed & published can now be appealed if the account at issue is a driver of that change.”
“We believe this is fair and appropriate,” Twitter said.
“This means that because a specific @nypost enforcement led us to update the Hacked Materials Policy, we will no longer restrict their account under the terms of the previous policy and they can now Tweet again.”
News Corp called Twitter’s decision to reinstate the Post‘s account without the Post bowing to its unreasonable demands an “important moment for journalism and for the freedom of the press.”
New York (October 30, 2020)—News Corp Chief Communications Officer Jim Kennedy has commented on Twitter unlocking the New York Post’s account today:
“This is an important moment for journalism and for the freedom of the press. There is no evidence whatsoever that the documents are not authentic and the arbitrary blocking of the Post was a significant moment during a critical time in this election season. It also had a negative commercial impact, but the Post team was determined that principle should prevail and it has. Alexander Hamilton, the paper’s founder, looks down tonight with a broad smile and a sense of pride.”
Of course this is a single battle, not the war, but the Post‘s victory is indeed tweet.
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Comments
After a whole or more…..
Chop big tech into 57 mini-utilities…….
“Whole week or more….”
Who will cooperate to accomplish the same result they have now.
To tell the truth we don’t need them at all.
There are organic self organizing systems that are possible.
To start just design browsers that are 100% customizable.
Then web sites have to design in codes that recognize what the browser owner has customized for finding.
Change how you think about big tech.
They are nothing but glorified business yellow pages.
But currently they operate on the Fascist model forcing business to their anti-competitive cronies.
They protect from harm for some by doing harm to others.
Twitter said no way would they bow to this petty tech tyranny, and after two weeks, Twitter relented.
? ? ?
Fixed, thanks muchly!
What has gone before is merely the warmup. If the Communists seize power after the elections you can bet the coming censorship will dwarf anything that has happened so far.
But people always find ways around them.
Yeah, but I’d much prefer not to have to resort to some sort of samizdat to get the word out.
Just checked…. Yep!
The Biden stories are up.
Twitter accomplished their purpose. For two weeks during early voting the story was effectively blocked.
True. It seems to me that the right is slow to get that we are the “enemy” according to Big Tech. We just keep using FB, Twitter, amazon and pretend that it’s no big deal. But it is, we are actively complicit in our own silencing/oppression/suppression. We need to get our act together on a site (like Parler) asap and whether Trump wins or not.
Whomever wins on Tuesday, Big Tech will work overtime to shut us out and to shut us up. We need to start visiting conservative/right leaning sites directly via bookmarks and/or a news aggregator like Feedly or the Bongino Report in preparation for when we can no longer depend on getting news via FB, Twitter, Google, etc.
“preparation for when we can no longer depend on getting news via FB, Twitter, Google, etc.”
We are already there.
we can no longer depend on getting news via FB, Twitter, Google, etc.
Why were you depending on getting your news from there in the first place? That’s like getting all of your news from the New York Times or The Economist.
It’s never been any kind of secret that Silicon Valley has always hated the Republicans, the right, and flyover country generally. And apparently every free-market-loving, capitalist right-winger forgot Friedman’s famous admonition: There’s Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
Did you think Google, Facebook, Twitter et al were letting you have their giant, multi-billion dollar global networks and software services for free just out of the goodness of their hearts?
There was always going to be a catch, and now you know what it is.
Exactly. Just like the Democrats with bylines in the news industry, these companies are using their God-given and constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech for political advantage.
In both cases the answer is not to force them to say things they don’t like, or to prevent them saying things they do like, but to recognize them for what they are and stop using their services.
Unfortunately like Ma Bell they are monopolies, whether “natural” or not. And like Ma Bell, the same anti-trust solution needs to be applied. We will never be able to get sufficient numbers of people to avoid these businesses which have become news sources and are gaining control over 80 to 90% of the news the people see. Once they started censoring political speech they proved they are publishers protected by law from the restrictions and potential penalties publishers work under.
Edward, literally everything in what you just posted is false. Like, every word, including ‘and’ and ‘the’.
This isn’t a difficult issue to understand. S.230 of the CDA and the original Prodigy case are not some strange obscure legal trivia that happened last week; they’ve been the law of the land for over twenty years.
Google has a natural monopoly on embedded ads and search. There’s no evidence they’re using it in a way that violates antitrust, and practically they can’t because of the way the Internet works. Everyone else? No, they don’t have a monopoly on anything, natural or otherwise.
The problem, as it always is, is soi-disant conservatives who do not know anything about the Internet and adamantly refuse to learn.
I had a facebook account at the urging of the (adult) children. Within two weeks of constant requests for items for acquaintances’ Farmville farm, I ceased using it and never returned. Never have bothered with twittercrap. Being rural I have to plead guilty to using Amazon, along with other on-line businesses (whichever has the needed item for the least USD delivered), particularly with the Wuhan ChiCom Flu disruptions.
Twitter probably drew more attention to the story by making a fuss
No doubt they did. But with virtually all the MSM ignoring the story, people had to find (primarily) conservative media in order to find out what the story was actually about. Many people only get their “news” from the TV broadcasts and even the twitter blocking was a non-story on all but FNC. How many people in Peoria will go searching for the story if they even hear about it? The blocking was a big story on the sites (and FNC) that we frequent, but not on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, etc.
My advice to the second PDJT administration would be to stop the use of FB, Twitter and Google by Federal government.
Easy to block Google and FB from being accessible on govt owned CPU. Easy to issue an EO requiring all departments and agencies to stop using FB and Twitter.
Next step is expanding that to every entity receiving federal funding.
Since every time the CEO of these companies testify they each say they have plenty of competition then removing Federal departments and agencies from using them and transferring that Federal content/traffic to their competition shouldn’t be controversial.
Every damn battalion in the Army uses FB for an ‘official’ FB site as well as another FB page for their ‘family readiness groups’. The FRG are the spouses behind the headlines that work to support each other and the unit with babysitting, fundraising for parties, deployment mutual support ECT.
I presume the same for the other branches. Now add in every State, County and municipal govt FB page being pulled and the traffic rerouted to a competitor. That alone builds enough regular traffic for a company to be able to scale up for individual accounts.
No need to go the antitrust route and wait for years. This plan I proposed is eminently achievable and totally legal. Other than the beneficiaries of current govt largess howling their really isn’t anything controversial in it.
Rut Roh.
Twit is not alone….
Rabobank: The Press Gave “Russiagate” Front-Page Coverage For Years… It Now Refuses To Cover An Actual FBI Agent’s Quotes
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/rabobank-press-which-gave-russiagate-front-page-coverage-years-it-now-refuses-cover
Now, you Twatter members: inundate the Twatterverse with the story. It needs to get out, even at this late date.
The Hunter Biden Scandal Has Exposed The Corporate Press’s Corruption And Condescension
https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/27/the-hunter-biden-scandal-has-exposed-the-corporate-presss-corruption-and-condescension/
Five Times Google Was Caught Red Handed on Bias and Censorship
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/10/31/five-times-google-was-caught-red-handed-on-bias-and-censorship/
Good for the NYP fur not caving to Jack’s ridiculous demands.
Probably figure they held them under wraps long enough is my guess, Leftists never give in without reason
Sounds like Jack is having a nasty bout of “Irritable Bowel Syndrome” and has decided his business is not a Political Party after all!