Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) grilled Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on the platform’s decision to block the New York Post’s stories on Hunter Biden, as well as the decision to suspend the Post’s account.
Dorsey tried to explain during the hearing that the company had been in error on its quick “enforcement” that blocked the two URLs from being shared over direct messaging or via tweet. However, he insisted that in order to unlock the Post’s account, they would have to delete their original tweets that violated policy. This was part of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on Oct. 28.
“You can censor The New York Post, you can censor Politico, you can presumably censor The New York Times or any other media outlet, Mr. Dorsey, who the hell elected you?” fired Cruz. He continued, asking why Twitter was “in charge of what the media are allowed to report, what the American people are allowed to hear, and why do you persist on behaving as a Democratic SuperPac silencing views to the contrary?”
The New York Post has been locked out of its account since Oct. 14.
Cruz opened his questioning with the statement that the three tech giants at the hearing posed “the single greatest threat to free speech in America and the greatest threat we have to free and fair elections.” But he narrowed his focus to Twitter, asking Dorsey, “does Twitter have the power to influence elections?”
When Dorsey murmured, “No,” Cruz followed up, saying, “Why do you block anything?”
The head of Twitter answered that the company sees “a lot of abuse and harassment, which ends up silencing people and sometimes they leave the platform.” Cruz fired back that his answers were “absurd on their face.”
In questioning the decision to block the Post, Cruz asked why the Post was punished for the Biden stories, but The New York Times had not been punished for sharing President Trump’s tax returns. Dorsey said Twitter had blocked the Post “because it showed the direct materials, screenshots of the direct materials, it was unclear how those were attained.”
Cruz retorted, “They weren’t hiding what they claimed to be the source.”
Later on, when Cruz asked why Twitter had the power to block media outlets from their accounts or from posting certain stories, Dorsey answered, “Every user agrees to the terms of service.”
“So media outlets must genuflect and obey your dictates if they wish to be able to communicate with readers, is that right?” Cruz asked back. Dorsey tried to say that was not the case.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representative and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
