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[WaPo] Hunter Biden laptop findings renew scrutiny of Twitter, Facebook crackdowns

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Os Trigonum, Mar 31, 2022.

  1. Os Trigonum

    Os Trigonum Contributing Member
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    deserves its own thread, but it's WaPo so it's alright

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...s-renew-scrutiny-twitter-facebook-crackdowns/

    Hunter Biden laptop findings renew scrutiny of Twitter, Facebook crackdowns
    By Cristiano Lima
    Today at 9:00 a.m. EDT

    Just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, Twitter and Facebook took rare steps to limit the circulation of an article by the New York Post detailing emails supposedly from the laptop of Hunter Biden, son of the now-president Joe Biden.

    Facebook restricted the story’s reach while its fact-checking partners looked into the veracity of the reporting. Twitter went a step further, locking the New York Post’s account and blocking users from posting links to the story, over concerns it was based on hacked materials.

    The actions ushered in a wave of backlash from Republicans — who accused tech platforms of suppressing the material to shield Biden — that continues to fuel GOP attacks on Silicon Valley.

    Now, amid new reporting by The Washington Post, verifying the authenticity of thousands of emails purportedly from Hunter Biden’s laptop, and the New York Times, which authenticated some messages in the cache, the social media policies are facing fresh scrutiny.

    On Wednesday, my colleagues Craig Timberg, Matt Viser and Tom Hamburger reported that, “Thousands of emails purportedly from the laptop computer of Hunter Biden … are authentic communications that can be verified through cryptographic signatures from Google and other technology companies,” based on an analysis two security experts conducted for The Post.

    According to the report, “Neither expert reported finding evidence that individual emails or other files had been manipulated by hackers, but neither was able to rule out that possibility.”

    Republicans have seized on the laptop as proof of wrongdoing, while Democrats have suggested it could have been manipulated to include foreign misinformation. Ultimately, my colleagues wrote, The Post’s forensic analysis is “unlikely to resolve that debate,” given that the verdict on much of the purported laptop data remains inconclusive.

    But the findings highlight the fact that tech companies appear to have acted both forcefully and preemptively against a perceived threat that to this day has not been publicly corroborated.

    Republicans have seized on the findings as vindication in their feud with Silicon Valley.

    Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.):



    Twitter and Facebook declined to comment on the new findings.

    But the findings are also resurfacing broader debates within civil society about where social media’s obligations to curtail suspected misinformation begin and end.

    One crucial question: What role, if any, should they play in restricting reporting by prominent news organizations, particularly when dealing with unverified or dubious sourcing?

    “A company like Twitter should not be trying to make a determination on the veracity of information when it’s impossible for them to have the type of information they would need to do so,” Evan Greer, director of digital activist group Fight for the Future, told The Technology 202.

    Looming over Twitter and Facebook’s actions in 2020 were widespread fears of repeating 2016, when Russian hackers leaked troves of emails from Democratic officials.

    Former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos told my colleague Will Oremus that, in retrospect, the platforms “overreacted” against the New York Post reporting on Hunter Biden, but that he understood why.

    “The most effective Russian operation in 2016 was the [leak of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee] and this smelled like the exact same playbook,” he said on Wednesday.

    Stamos said the companies were in a “no-win situation,” likely facing allegations of censorship if they limited the article or criticism of amplifying potential misinformation if they didn’t.

    A slew of former intelligence officials expressed skepticism at the timeabout the veracity of the New York Post’s reporting and warned it could be Russian-backed disinformation.

    Twitter, which took more aggressive action, took the brunt of the heat in Washington.

    While the company quickly reversed its initial ruling that the article violated its policies against hacked materials, it continued to block users from posting it under a separate rule against publishing users’ private information. The company later changed course again, saying it would allow users to share the link because the information was widely available in publications beyond the New York Post.

    Ultimately, the episode underscores the high-stakes trade-offs companies make when deciding whether to limit content where the risk of harm is unclear.

    “This latest analysis shows how complex and difficult it can be to verify the authenticity of documents or digital files, regardless of how they have been obtained,” Greer said. “That’s true whether material was allegedly hacked or just given to a journalist by a willing source.”
    all the weird formatting and bolding is in the original
     
  2. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    Well that photo of Nekkid Hunter in the NYPos front page did nothing to help their case.

    It's like they were begging for this.
     
  3. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    Spreading illegally acquired info is an ugly and murky matter in the internet world.

    Are we free to post stolen pictures of other people on social media?

    Hunter wasn't a public official either with his celebrity linked in name and with Trump's impeachment.

    Steve Bannon bragged that he would post salacious breadcrumbs related to Hillary so that established media would jump on its trail and post the rest, thereby amplifying a feedback loop where Breitbart would post even wilder accusations building on top of the "credible sounding" stories rumors written about it. He laughed all the way to elevating Trump into the Presidency.

    I get we all want free speech and press, but if we want to keep nice things then we have to confront and address **** like that or companies outside the purview of the Constitution will make those tough hard decisions for us.
     
  4. Commodore

    Commodore Contributing Member

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    this video is super creepy

     

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