Twitter and Facebook restrict sharing of disputed 'NY Post' article ahead of election

Facebook and Twitter restricted the spread of a disputed New York Postarticle on Wednesday.

The article in question, which makes claims about former Vice President Joe Biden's work in Ukraine, is supposedly based on a hard drive that was abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop in April of last year. Twitter is actively blocking users from both tweeting and direct messaging the article link. Facebook, for its part, is "reducing [the article's] distribution" for the time being.

We reached out to Facebook in an attempt to determine what, exactly, that means, but received no immediate response. Twitter's action, however, is hard to miss. Attempts to either tweet a link to the New York Postarticle, or send it via Direct Message, are currently being blocked.

This reporter attempted to DM the link to his editor. It failed. Credit: screenshot / twitter Trying to tweet the link in question. Credit: screenshot / twitter

When reached for comment, a Twitter spokesperson responded, "In line with our Hacked Materials Policy, as well as our approach to blocking URLs, we are taking action to block any links to or images of the material in question on Twitter."

Twitter insisted that, because the source of the material is dubious, it falls under the aforementioned Hacked Materials Policy. That policy reads, in part: "we don't permit the use of our services to directly distribute content obtained through hacking that contains private information, may put people in physical harm or danger, or contains trade secrets."  

Later Wednesday, Twitter released a statement further clarifying its position.

"The images contained in the articles include personal and private information — like email addresses and phone numbers — which violate our rules," read the tweeted statement in part. "Commentary on or discussion about hacked materials, such as articles that cover them but do not include or link to the materials themselves, aren't a violation of this policy. Our policy only covers links to or images of hacked material themselves."

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CEO Jack Dorsey also tweeted a mea culpaof sorts about the action.

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The Daily Beast spoke with the man, John Paul Mac Isaac, who allegedly handed over the hard drive to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's lawyer, Robert Costello. The Daily Beast reports that Mac Isaac changed his story repeatedly throughout the conversation, and elliptically referred to Giuliani as his "lifeguard."

"Mac Isaac said he had a medical condition that prevented him from actually seeing who dropped off the laptop," reports the Daily Beast, "but that he believed it to be Hunter Biden’s because of a sticker related to the Beau Biden Foundation that was on it."

Natasha Bertrand, Politico's national security correspondent, shared a statement from the Biden campaign on Twitter. It disputed a key claim of the New York Postarticle, reading, in part: "we have reviewed Joe Biden's official schedules from the time and no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place."

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That social media platforms would attempt to restrict the sharing of hacked materials is not new. Twitter, notably, took a controversial stance against those attempting to share Blue Leaks police documents earlier this summer. However, blocking an article from a media outlet like the New York Postis very different.

SEE ALSO: Police are worried about white extremists organizing on Gab Chat, leaked documents show

As the U.S. presidential election fast approaches, it's clear social media platforms don't want to be complicit in any possible disinformation campaigns. What that means for Twitter and Facebook going forward when it comes to blocking articles from media outlets, in the next three weeks and after the election, isn't clear.

UPDATE: Oct. 14, 2020, 3:13 p.m. PDT: This story has been updated to include reporting from the Daily Beast about John Paul Mac Isaac.

UPDATE: Oct. 14, 2020, 5:04 p.m. PDT: This story has been updated to include a statement, in the form of a tweet, from Twitter Safety.

UPDATE: Oct. 14, 2020, 5:12 p.m. PDT:This story has been updated to include Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's tweet about the action.