Two years later, former Twitter Head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth admitted censoring the bombshell New York Post Hunter Biden laptop story was a mistake.
On this week’s episode of CensorTrack with Paiten, we looked at the former Twitter executive’s defense of the platform’s sordid past censorship.
In an interview hosted by the left-wing Knight Foundation, tech writer and podcast host Kara Swisher asked Roth if he thought the company made a mistake in restricting people from sharing the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Roth tried to pass the buck while simultaneously claiming that he didn’t think the bombshell report should have been censored.
“We didn’t know what to believe,” he said. “We didn’t know what was true; there was smoke. And ultimately for me, uh, it didn’t reach a place where I was comfortable removing this content from Twitter. Everything about it looked like a hack-and-leak and smelled like a hack-and-leak, but it didn’t get there for me.”
Roth admitted Twitter didn’t know if the Hunter Biden laptop story was false at the time. But the platform suppressed the story anyway – just in case. Apparently, Roth and his former Twitter team did not trust the American public to use critical thinking skills and come to their own conclusions.
Responding to a Reuters report on Roth’s comments, Musk openly stated that Twitter interfered with U.S. elections under its previous leadership. He said in a Nov. 30 tweet, “The obvious reality, as long-time users know, is that Twitter has failed in trust & safety for a very long time and has interfered in elections.”
He also indicated that files on “free speech suppression” at Twitter will soon be made public. These files could include information related to the platform’s foul censorship of the 2020 Hunter Biden laptop scandal. Musk tweeted on Nov. 28, “The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself. The public deserves to know what really happened … .”
Even though Musk’s acquisition of Twitter reignites hope that free speech will return to the platform, we must continue working to restore and preserve free speech online.
To stay updated on free speech news and to help hold Big Tech accountable, visit CensorTrack and follow MRC Free Speech America’s social media channels:
Also, check out some of our previous episodes:
- TikTok CEO: Content Moderation (Censorship) Is a ‘Top Priority’
- Leftists Blame Everything on So-Called ‘Misinformation’: Midterm Election Edition!
- Google: The Ultimate Election Puppetmaster?
- And more!
Conservatives are under attack. If you have been censored, contact us at the MRC Free Speech America contact form on CensorTrack.org, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
