New scandal: Facebook and Twitter limited the distribution of articles about Biden

On Wednesday October 14, Facebook and Twitter restricted the distribution of the New York Post's two-story article about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. NPR.

Photo: Shutterstock

Both companies said this was done to slow the spread of potentially false information, but gave little detail on how the decisions were made. This has prompted criticism for the lack of clarity and consistency with which social media applies its rules.

The New York Post published a series of articles citing emails allegedly sent by Biden's son Hunter, which say they were received from Trump's private lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and former Trump adviser Steve Bennon.

Facebook was restricting distribution of the main publication of the publication while external fact checkers were reviewing claims about the accuracy of the information, said spokesman Andy Stone. That is, the platform's algorithms will post messages with links to the plot in such a way as to reduce the number of users who see it. However, according to CrowdTangle, a social networking research tool, the post still received 600 interactions (likes, shares, comments).

Facebook sometimes takes this step if it sees "signals" that potentially false information is gaining traction, to give fact checkers time to evaluate a story before it spreads widely, Stone said. Stone did not explain the details of the process.

Twitter went further. It blocks screenshots of emails or links to the New York Post that mention the article, according to spokesman Trenton Kennedy. Users who try to share links receive a notification that says, "We can't fulfill the request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as potentially harmful."

If a user clicks on links already posted on Twitter, they are presented with a warning screen saying, “This link may be unsafe,” which they must click on to actually read the story. Twitter also demanded that the New York Post remove its tweet about the stories.

Twitter said it decided to block the links because it was unsure of the origin of the letter. Representatives said the service's policy "prohibits its use to distribute content obtained without permission" and Twitter does not want to encourage hacking by allowing people to share "possibly illegally obtained material." The company later provided further explanation as to why it blocked the material.

Twitter's security team said images of emails in the articles "include personal information such as email addresses and phone numbers, which violates our policies" against the unauthorized sharing of such details.

The company's CEO, Jack Dorsey, admitted that the company's message about why it was blocking articles "wasn't very good." He wrote that it is “unacceptable” to prevent people from sharing posts “with zero explanation as to why we are blocking it.”

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When New York Post spokeswoman Iva Benson was asked to comment on social media, she cited an article by NPR.

“Our story explains where the information came from, and the Senate committee now confirms that it also received files from the same source,” the editorial board said. “Yet Facebook and Twitter are deliberately trying to keep their users from reading and deciding for themselves what it means.”

Trump tweeted that it was "so bad that Facebook and Twitter removed the story," although Facebook did not remove it from the platform. “Repeal Section 230!!!” - he wrote. Section 230 is a provision of the Communications Ethics Act of 1996 that protects online platforms from lawsuits over user-generated content. Trump has repeatedly called for the section to be repealed.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri sent letters to the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter urging them to act to reduce the spread and block the story. Hawley sent a letter to the Federal Election Commission saying the companies' actions may constitute "egregious violations of the Biden campaign."

The Senate Republican Conference, led by Senator John Barrasso, issued a statement on Twitter: "See you soon, @jack," with a screenshot of the New York Times publication. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai are scheduled to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on Oct. 28 — just six days before the election. The topic of this meeting is: Section 230.

On the subject: Biden is predicted to win the presidential election with a 91% probability

What the New York Post articles are about

One of the materials, the link to which is blocked on social networks, claims to provide compromising information about Biden’s contacts with a consultant to the board of directors of the Ukrainian gas production group Burisma Holdings, Vadim Pozharsky. New York Post cites excerpts from the correspondence that Pozharsky allegedly addressed to Biden's son Hunter a year later, in April 2015.

In the letter, Pozharsky thanks Hunter Biden for “the opportunity to meet your father.” In another, earlier letter, Pozharsky allegedly asks Hunter Biden how he could “use his political influence” to help Burisma. The New York Post claims that the letters were obtained from a laptop abandoned in 2019 at a repair shop in Delaware. When the computer was not picked up from repair for a long time, the owner of the workshop contacted the FBI. The publication does not provide evidence that Hunter Biden was a client of the workshop.

The second text claims that Hunter Biden allegedly struck lucrative deals with China's largest private energy company, including one that he said would be “of interest to me and my family,” allegedly according to emails received New York Post... One email sent to Biden on May 13, 2017 with the subject "Expectations" detailed information on "compensation packages" for six people involved in an unspecified business venture.

Another email sent by Biden in a thread on August 2, 2017, allegedly related to a deal he struck with the disappeared chairman of the private conglomerate CEFC Ye Jianming about half ownership of a holding company that was supposedly to have earned Hunter Biden more than $ 10 million in year.

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