Category: US Politics

Twitter has informed a Breitbart News Network reporter that the social network had received a “request from Pakistan” regarding two tweets related to Charlie Hebdo cartoons which allegedly “violates the law(s) of Pakistan”, advising the journalist to “take appropriate action to protect your interests”.

Europe Correspondent Chris Tomlinson had received a message addressed from Twitter Legal which alerted him that, “in the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that Twitter has received a request from Pakistan regarding your Twitter account” which “claims the following content violates the law(s) of Pakistan”.

The first tweet was of a video showing Charlie Hebdo cartoons including the Muslim prophet, Mohammed, being projected onto a government building in Montpellier, France. The second was a link to the Breitbart London article from October 21st detailing the incident.

The projections were made in response to the murder by a Chechen Islamist of French teacher Samuel Paty, who had shown cartoons of Mohammed during a freedom of expression lesson earlier this month. French President Emmanuel Macron’s insistence on defending secular values, including freedom of speech, has resulted in protests around the Islamic world, including Pakistan.

The social media giant continued in its correspondence with the Breitbart reporter that “we have not taken any action on the reported content at this time as a result of this request.”

The notice continued: “As Twitter strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a legal request from an authorized entity (such as law enforcement or a government agency) to remove content from their account. We provide notice whether or not the user lives in the country where the request originated.”

“We understand that receiving this type of notice can be an unsettling experience. While Twitter is not able to provide legal advice, we want you to have an opportunity to evaluate the request and, if you wish, take appropriate action to protect your interests.

“This may include seeking legal counsel and challenging the request in court, contacting relevant civil society organizations, voluntarily deleting the content (if applicable), or finding some other resolution,” said the message.

Others have reportedly received similar notices from Twitter of Pakistan’s request after sharing content related to cartoons of the Islamic prophet, including journalist Andy Ngo and conservative commentator Michelle Malkin.

Following Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s appearance before the Senate, the New York Post says that the social media platform is running a “protection racket,” dictating what Americans can see and read and what media companies must do to reach the public on its platform in a “blackmail operation.”

One day after the Senate Commerce Committee hearing in which the CEO’s from Facebook, Twitter, and Google testified, the New York Post has published an article claiming that the social media giant is running a “protection racket,” limiting what Americans see and influencing how media companies reach out to the public on its platform.

In the article, the Post writes:

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sounded like every mob enforcer and shakedown artist in history: Nice paper you got there, New York Post. Shame, should something happen to it. He knows full well media outlets depend on social media, and Google search algorithms, to help readers access our reporting.

Sen. Ted Cruz wasn’t fooled: “Mr. Dorsey, who the hell elected you and put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report, and what the American people are allowed to hear?” he thundered. “Why do you persist in behaving as a Democratic super PAC, silencing views to the contrary of your political beliefs?”

Dorsey tried to claim it was all a mistake that had been fixed, but The Post account remained locked, even as he spoke.

“Can the New York Post post on their Twitter account?” Cruz asked.

“If they go into their account …,” squirmed Dorsey, before Cruz cut him off.

“No, is your answer to that,” fumed Cruz, “unless they genuflect and agree with your dictates.”

Breitbart News reported yesterday that during the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey falsely answered senators that his platform lifted a ban on users tweeting articles from the Post’s Huter Biden exposé.

Despite Dorsey’s claims, the ban remained on one of the publication’s bombshell stories and was only lifted after Dorsey gave his testimony before the Senate. Dorsey told Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), “Anyone can tweet these articles,” in reference to the Post’s articles on emails implication Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in his son’s work in China and Ukraine.

Abigail Marone, a rapid response official on President Trump’s re-election campaign, immediately tweeted that Dorsey was not being truthful in his statement:

Read more at Breitbart News here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey falsely claimed during a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee hearing today that links to the New York Post’s bombshell stories on Biden family corruption were no longer banned on its platform, despite the ban remaining on the Post‘s story on alleged corrupt deals with communist China. The link ban was only removed after Dorsey’s testimony.

The New York Post reports that during today’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey falsely answered senators that his platform lifted a ban on users tweeting articles from the Post’s Huter Biden exposé.

However, the Post states that the ban remained on one of the publication’s bombshell stories and was only lifted after Dorsey made the claim. Dorsey told Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), “Anyone can tweet these articles,” in reference to the Post’s articles on emails implication Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in his son’s work in China and Ukraine.

Abigail Marone, a rapid response official on President Trump’s re-election campaign, immediately tweeted that Dorsey was not being truthful in his statement:

Until some time after Dorsey’s statement, Twitter users were not able to share the link to the article on the alleged Biden-linked China business deal. When Twitter users attempted to share the link, they received a message stating: “Something went wrong, but don’t fret — let’s give it another shot.”

Twitter told users attempting to share the article: “We can’t complete this request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful. Visit our Help Center to learn more.”

Dorsey repeatedly claimed that Twitter had lifted the ban on sharing the Post’s articles, stating: “Our team made a fast decision. The enforcement action, however, of blocking URLs, both in tweets and in DM direct messages we believe was incorrect and we changed it.”

Cruz replied: “You’re still blocking. You’re still blocking their posts, right now today you’re blocking their posts.” To which Dorsey stated: “We’re not blocking The Post, anyone can tweet these articles.”

Discussing the Post’s official Twitter account remaining locked, Dorsey said that the Post “[has] to log into their account, which they can do at this minute, delete the original tweet, which fell under our original enforcement actions, and they can tweet the exact same material to the exact same article and it would go through.”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday slammed Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for his social media platform’s censorship of the New York Post’s story about 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and his business dealings overseas.

McEnany, whose Twitter profile was temporarily suspended and tweets were taken down for sharing the Hunter Biden story, described Dorsey on FNC’s “Fox & Friends” as a “mob artist.”

“[S]hame on Jack Dorsey,” McEnany stated. “As the New York Post noted today, this is a mob artist. This is a shakedown effort to say, ‘Delete the Hunter Biden story. The media won’t report on it. Social media will censor it. Delete it, or we will censor the fourth-largest newspaper in the United States. We will block them from social media.’ Big tech needs to be handled and the president in the second term will do just that because there needs to be equity. There needs to a lack of censorship.”

She doubled down on remarks made a week earlier in which she accused big tech of acting like big governments or “rouge regimes” to “censor one side of the aisle.”

“This is what happens in North Korea, not the United States,” McEnany advised.

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent