Twitter and Facebook collaborated to limit the circulation of Hunter Biden’s laptop story, just in time for the 2020 Presidential Election. As MRC research revealed, both these platforms slowed down the spread of the Hunter Biden laptop story as Big Media did.
Facebook’s suppression broke the platform’s own fact-checking policy, and Twitter’s attempt to cancel the story so outrageously violated content moderation norms that it drew criticism from the likes of leftist Poynter Institute fact-checkers. Even the then-Twitter CEO was critical. Jack DorseyAfter the fact, he criticized his platform.
Representative of Facebook Andy StoneThe platform announced that it had prevented third-party fact checks on the Hunter Biden story on October 14, 2020 and has limited its spread going forward. Stone has a long history working directly for Democrats, and Facebook’s hair-trigger, broad-brush blackout blatantly broke the platform’s content moderation policy.
Under Facebook’s third-party fact-checker policy, the fact-checkers decide what content gets restricted. Facebook’s fact-checking partners, which are certified by the liberal Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), are supposed to flag Facebook posts found to be “False,” “Altered,” “Missing Context,” or “Partly False.”
Twitter responded to New York Post’s bombshell Hunter Biden report by disabling the link to the story on the day it was released, and claimed: “Warning: this link may be unsafe.” Twitter then restricted the PostFrom Oct. 14 to October 30.
Twitter’s action eventually prompted an admission of error by Dorsey during Senate questioning on Oct. 28, 2020. Twitter’s and Facebook’s joint suppression drew criticism from the brass of the fact-checking network that oversees Facebook’s fact-checking partners.
IFCN Associate Director Cristina Tardáguila wrote for the Poynter Institute, “Less than a month from Election Day, both companies finally became arbiters of the truth on the internet. Naive are those who believe this isn’t dangerous.”
Twitter restricted Twitter’s sharing of Hunter laptop stories and also limited their use. Post’sAccount for over two weeks. They also repelled several political leaders who attempted to tell the story.
These were the targets of then-White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnanyThe OANN Reporter, as of the time Jack PosobiecTrump Campaign actor James WoodsTelevision host for conservative radio or TV. Dana Loesch, NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis HouckFor 12 hours, even the House Judiciary Committee.
Facebook “fact-checker” Lead Stories released at least 15 so-called “fact-checks” in direct support of Joe and Hunter Biden in the two weeks before the Nov. 3, 2020, Election Day. Those “fact-checks” sought to rebut claims of Hunter’s alleged drug use and alleged sexual misconduct, along with assertions that corporate media didn’t give the Hunter Biden story enough coverage.
Here is an extensive timeline detailing how social media suppressed Hunter Biden’s story starting on Oct. 14, 2020 and ending today.
Oct. 14, 2020, 11:10 a.m.: Andy Stone is a Facebook Communications Executive, formerly a career Democrat. notes that his company is “reducing” distribution ofThe Hunter Biden story.
Oct. 14, 2020, 1 p.m.: Stone qualifies the censorship, stating: “This is part of our standard process to reduce the spread of misinformation. It isn’t, actually.
Oct. 14, 2020, 3:22 p.m.: Twitter freezes the New York Post’s primary account, claiming the Hunter Biden story violates the platform’s rules against “distribution of hacked material.”
Oct. 14, 2020, 6:43 p.m.: Twitter has locked the account of Kaleigh McEnany (White House Press Secretary), apparently to share the Hunter Biden story.
Oct. 14-Nov. 3, 2020: Facebook fact-checking partner Lead Stories posts over a dozen “fact-checks” seeking to rebut claims such as Hunter’s alleged drug use and alleged sexual misconduct.
Oct. 15, 2020: Facebook fact-checking partner FactCheck.org claims the Hunter Biden laptop/Ukraine business dealings story is “false” and widely debunked. Both are false.
Oct. 16, 2020, 6:30 p.m.: Twitter removes the Hunter Biden ban. The New York TimesSensationally, it is reported that congressional Republicans forced the platform to comply.
Oct. 19, 2020: One hundred and one former U.S intelligence officers write a letter praising the authenticity of the New York Post report, claiming the story has “earmarks of a Russian disinformation operation.”
Oct. 20-Nov. 3, 2020:PolitiFact, a Facebook partner for fact-checking, has conducted several positive Hunter Biden fact-checks during the campaign. At least three of these were related to Biden’s laptop.
Oct. 28, 2020: A Snopes fact-check repeats 51 intelligence officials’ claims that the Hunter Biden laptop story is “Russian disinformation.”
Oct. 28, 2020: At a hearing, big tech CEOs are present. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, claims that his company made mistakes in suppressing Hunter Biden’s story.
Oct. 29, 2020:PolitiFact disproves the claims of Hunter Biden’s business partner Tony Bobulinski, that Joe Biden had been involved in family-related ventures with an Chinese oil company.
Oct. 30, 2020: Twitter lifts the freeze New York Post’s account just a few days before Election Day.
Nov. 17, 2020: Big Tech CEOs are asked again by the Senate. Much of the hearing focuses on Big Tech’s censorship of the Hunter Biden story.
April 6, 2021 Snopes incorrectly tags Hunter Biden’s social media posts with the wrong tag. Hunter Biden was referring to the computer mentioned in the Snopes fact check New York Post “could be” his as “misleading.”
July 7, 2021 Former President Donald Trump sues Twitter and Facebook for “censorship of the American people.”
Sept. 13, 2021: The Federal Election Commission determines Twitter’s actions to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story were “valid,” and not for a political purpose.
March 17, 2022 Snopes provides an October 15, 2020 fact-check update that has the facts uprooted by Snopes New York PostStory to be noted The New York Times authenticated the emails housed on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Conclusion: All went well. Research conducted by The Polling Company for the Media Research Center after the 2020 election found that the media’s censorship of Biden scandals had a significant impact on the election. According to the survey, 45.1% of Biden votersIn seven states that are key swing, a majority of respondents said they didn’t know about the financial scandal involving Hunter Biden or Biden’s son. According to our survey, complete awareness of the Hunter Biden scandal might have resulted in awareness. 9.4%Biden voters decided to vote for Trump instead, and Trump won six of the swing state he had previously won. This would have allowed Trump to win 311 electoral votes.
This study focuses on revelations that were primarily triggered by the discovery of the laptop. Hunter investigation: stories’s Tax affairs pre-date Hunter scandals or the laptop story Art galleryDeal were excluded from this study.
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