Last Friday, Twitter released internal e-mails and other files related to the company's decision to suppress the New York Post's reporting about on the contents of Hunter Biden's recovered laptop in advance of the 2020 election. The materials were released through a Twitter thread by independent writer Matt Taibbi,
In today's WSJ, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna explains why he laments Twitter's handlign of the controversy, even though it may have benefitted his political party.
Twitter's suppression [of the Hunter Biden story] violated the First Amendment principles Brennan articulated in [New York Times v.] Sullivan. Twitter banned links to the story and suspended accounts that shared it, including President Trump's press secretary and the New York Post itself—arguing that the story violated company policy because it contained information obtained through illegal means. Under the same logic, they'd have to suspend any account that posted the Pentagon Papers, which is protected by New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971), or the story of Mr. Trump's leaked tax returns.
As Silicon Valley's representative in Congress, I reached out to Twitter at the time to share these concerns. In an email meant to be private, but recently made public by Matt Taibbi's "Twitter Files" thread, I wrote to Twitter's general counsel that the company's actions "seemed to be a violation of First Amendment principles." Although Twitter is a private actor not legally bound by the First Amendment, Twitter has come to function as a modern public square. As such, Twitter has a responsibility to the public to allow the free exchange of ideas and open debate.
