Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (video screenshot)
The New York Post, whose Twitter account was suspended for posting its exclusive stories on alleged influence peddling by Joe Biden and his family, says the social media giant is running "a protection racket."
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, along with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai, was subpoenaed to testify before a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Dorsey conceded the suspension was an error and has amended its policy. But he said that the paper must delete tweets on the Biden story if it wants its account restored.
The Post's editorial board wrote Wednesday that for "all their talk of 'neutral platforms,' the Big Shots at Big Tech — Twitter, Facebook and Google — are running a protection racket."
"They figure they can dictate what Americans get to see and read, and what other media companies must do to reach the public via those platforms," the editorial said.
"It’s a clear threat to a healthy democracy — and Congress has noticed. On Wednesday, the Senate launched a hearing to investigate 'Big Tech’s bad behavior.'
"Center-stage: Twitter’s strong-arm tactics to censor The Post ever since we began reporting on Hunter Biden’s emails. First, it froze our account and banned our stories; then, amid a public backlash, it agreed to unfreeze us — but only if we deleted our original tweets," the board wrote.
"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," the board said.
The board noted that while Dorsey "tried to claim it was all a mistake that had been fixed," the Post's account remained locked.
After the hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, challenged Dorsey's claim that Twitter was now allowing the Post's stories on the Biden family to circulate.
"What [Dorsey] told the Senate, under oath, is false. I just tried to tweet the [New York Post] story alleging Biden's CCP corruption. Still blocked," Cruz wrote in a tweet.
He noted it's a felony to lie under oath to the Senate.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote: "Twitter has 'censored' President Trump 65 times and Joe Biden zero. 'There is a pattern of subjective manipulation of information.'"
Cruz, during the hearing with Dorsey, skewered the company for its tight editorial control over content.
"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? And why insist on behaving as a Democrat superpac?" Cruz asked.
The dispute centers on the legal protection the social media companies enjoy as "neutral platforms" rather than "publishers," which are accountable for their content.
See Cruz's questioning of Dorsey:
Cruz asked Dorsey if Twitter can influence elections, and the CEO denied it.
Dorsey claimed his company was merely part of a "spectrum of resources" for Americans.
Cruz responded, "Not if they don't hear information."
The senator said the latest episode of censorship of conservative thought and expression is alarming.
The company crossed a "threshold," he said, when it argued it could block alleged corruption by Joe Biden because it was based on "hacked materials" while allowing a story about President Trump's tax returns based on documents that are illegal to publish without permission.
Cruz argued the Biden evidence was not "hacked," coming from a laptop apparently abandoned by Hunter Biden.
The post New York Post: Twitter running 'protection racket' appeared first on WND.
