Facebook and Twitter Cross a Line Far More Dangerous Than What They Censor (The Intercept)


The following is an excerpt of an article by Glenn Greenwald in The Intercept

Just weeks before the election, the tech giants unite to block access to incriminating reporting about their preferred candidate.

THE NEW YORK POST IS one of the country’s oldest and largest newspapers. Founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton, only three U.S. newspapers are more widely circulated. Ever since it was purchased in 1976 by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, it has been known — like most Murdoch-owned papers — for right-wing tabloid sensationalism, albeit one that has some real reporters and editors and is capable of reliable journalism.

On Wednesday morning, the paper published on its cover what it heralded as a “blockbuster” scoop: “smoking gun” evidence, in its words, in the form of emails purportedly showing that Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, traded on his father’s position by securing favors from the then-Vice President to benefit the Ukranian energy company Burisma, which paid the supremely unqualified Hunter $50,000 each month to sit on its Board. While the Biden campaign denies that any such meetings or favors ever occurred, neither the campaign nor Hunter, at least as of now, has denied the authenticity of the emails.

The Post’s hyping of the story as some cataclysmic bombshell was overblown. While these emails, if authenticated, provide some new details and corroboration, the broad outlines of this story have long been known: Hunter was paid a very large monthly sum by Burisma at the same time that his father was quite active in using the force of the U.S. Government to influence Ukraine’s internal affairs.  

Along with emails relating to Burisma, the New York Post also gratuitously published several photographs of Hunter, who has spoken openly and commendably of his past struggles with substance abuse, in what appeared to various states of drug use. There was no conceivable public interest in publishing those, and every reason not to.

The Post’s explanation of how these documents were obtained is bizarre at best — they claim that Hunter Biden indefinitely left his laptop containing the emails at a repair store, and the store’s owner, alarmed by the corruption they revealed, gave the materials from the hard drive to the FBI and then to Rudy Giuliani. 

While there is no proof that Biden followed through on any of Hunter’s promises to Burisma, there is no reason, at least thus far, to doubt that the emails are genuine. And if they are genuine, they at least add to what is undeniably a relevant and newsworthy story involving influence-peddling relating to Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine and his trading on the name and power of his father, now the front-runner in the 2020 presidential election.

BUT THE POST, for all its longevity, power and influence, ran smack into two entities far more powerful than it: Facebook and Twitter. Almost immediately upon publication, pro-Biden journalists created a climate of extreme hostility and suppression toward the Post story, making clear that any journalist even mentioning it would be roundly attacked. For the crime of simply noting the story on Twitter (while pointing out its flaws), New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman was instantly vilified to the point where her name, along with the phrase “MAGA Haberman,” were trending on Twitter. (Continued…)

Read more at The Intercept:

https://theintercept.com/2020/10/15/facebook-and-twitter-cross-a-line-far-more-dangerous-than-what-they-censor/

Order “Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism” by Sharyl Attkisson today at Harper Collins, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, IndieBound, Bookshop!

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9 thoughts on “Facebook and Twitter Cross a Line Far More Dangerous Than What They Censor (The Intercept)”

  1. Just a question about the statement “There is no proof Biden followed through…”, and that is: just what sort of thing would constitute proof in your mind? If the unsolicited on-video statement by Biden himself at the Jan. 2018 CFR gathering is only a circumstantial correlation, aren’t you saying that your standard for proof is so high as to be unattainable and meaningless?

    1. Dave – have you seen the latest incriminating EVIDENCE ? Broke last night and this is Saturday noon (wake up) !! Look sharp, Guy – be the first in your crowd to eat your words, review all the info already put out (Guiliani has original emails confirming “Papa Joe” gets his 10% cut ) Sweiker has WRITTEN confirmations by former associate of “Poor boy” Hunter in Hunter’s own written emails. Wake up Dave the world news is way ahead of you ! Your too high and meaningless and now you’ve shown yourself a “Sleepy Joe” minion and irrelevent.

    2. Facebook / Twitter / Google censers have CANCELED MY ABOVE REPLY attempt to get Dave “up to speed” !!! These mutts are making fools of themselves – have already taken back their blocking of N.Y. Post and Cailye’s (sic) posts – they’ve been historically making fools of themselves, now being condemned by “news” colleagues ! Their “230” privileges in serious jeopardy due to their self assumed journalistic actions to JUDGE what is news vs. their commitment to OPENLY POST any and all public comments. Professed left liberal Zuckerberg et al, your reckoning is at hand and I can only hope the spineless upcoming Congressional hearings will cancel your initial, generous protection vs. liable and court actions.

      1. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Isn’t Zuckerberg Jewish? If so, what the hell is he thinking? Doesn’t he know how Hitler was able to perpetrate such horror for so long? Censorship and propaganda — exactly what’s been going on here for over four years.

        In providing news coverage of Trump that was 93% negative and 7% negative for Biden, you know that, even accounting for legit coverage of Trump’s daily foot-in-mouth, there’s a lot of positive they censored about him and a lot of negative they censored about Biden. Along with that, their editorializing of the negative they did report turned it into propaganda, which means they have been and still are telling viewers what to think and believe. Textbook.

        That’s all a corrupt government needs. If he is Jewish, his censorship is a betrayal of all humanity. I don’t want to offend anyone, but we’re seeing some of the adverse consequences of an inadequate education that’s been in place for over 50 yrs. — the inability to think beyond the superficial.

        Censored speech must rise to the level of yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater when there is no fire. Unlike a term like “wild,” as in “we’ll have a wild party,” there’s no ambiguity about the word “fire.” Everyone knows for certain what the term means and what will happen when it’s randomly yelled in that context. Trump’s statements do not rise to that level. And, after four years of his silly talk and boatload of flaws, everyone should know how to read him. The rioters are solely responsible for their own behavior. And, apparently, everyone had enough notice to prepare. Had they been prepared, we’d finally know for certain whether other groups are showing up at protests to deliberately incite the crowd into violent acts and chaos.

        To pursue another impeachment before having that information reveals just how twisted and sick Pelosi’s obsession is with obliterating Trump and acting on her own hate. This isn’t an opinion nor an attempt to be unkind. There really is something seriously wrong with this. It appears to have gone way past her normal, self-serving political goals and gains agenda ’cause there’s nothing to gain now from her relentless pursuit. And announcing to the press that she’s talked to the Pentagon over concern about our nuclear weapons? Seriously? Is she out of her mind? It’s not only over-stepping her authority, but she now has the world wondering, quite erroneously, if they need to fear Trump pushing a button. And people probably believe it’s possible when Americans should, at the very least, know the facts about that. That isn’t concern for Americans at all, yet she honestly believes she’ll be admired for this.. The fact that so many people can’t think their way through this should scare everyone.

        1. I agree totally. She is acting totally irrational and her “whiteness” comments about the capitol protesters are completely unhinged. We can’t let her intimidate us with the race card. It’s baseless and desperation on her part. Despicable!

  2. Well they are all in it together.. the FBI has had that laptop since Feb 2019.. They weren’t going to even tell the taxpayers they’d been duped once again by the OBUMMER Admin..
    when are you going to report on the REAL story about Benghazi? How the seal team 6 was set up and to die.. because they knew the truth about Osama, he wasn’t dead and Iran had duped obummer Biden and Clinton’s agreement.. they actually didn’t kill Osama, but let the American ppl think they did, and the 150 billion in cash was hush money… why do the American ppl find out this information and journalist just sit on it.. for how long? Until it is reported, after the election? To keep voters in the dark about the vile acts of the OBUMMER admin..

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