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Facebook and Twitter outright admitted to blocking content related to Hunter Biden's laptop before the election 2020. They claimed it was for privacy concerns.

by andirk 4y ago

Facebook and Twitter outright admitted to blocking content related to Hunter Biden's laptop before the election 2020. They claimed it was for privacy concerns. And then after the election, there was no worry so that rule went away. All of these decisions are of a neoliberal view of the world which is mainly "yes war, identity politics when convenient, block dissent otherwise". This will only continue.

boppo1 4y ago
Not sure why this is downvoted, Zuckerberg himself acknowledged the legitimacy* of the H. Biden laptop story and that it was mistakenly blocked. Something like "There was a lot of BS going around at the time and we had to make a call on it quickly and we were wrong." It was fairly level headed if I recall. *to some extent. I know there were people claiming the laptop tied the Bidens into some sort of demon worshipping child eating cult or something, obviously that's a joke.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
  At the time it happened, I noted that a lot of goodwill tech companies managed to accumulate over the years will be squandered on an election drama. I agree that the post-fact discussion was better, but real-time panic was palpable. Just doing all that stuff in tandem with Twitter moved the story from conspiracy theory to a simple 'they are colluding so it must be true'. It is nothing that an average information analyst would not predict. I can only assume reasonable voices were ignored.
- andirk 4y ago
  HN is my fave place for intellectual discourse. However, I deleted the last line of my comment before posting: "I expect to get downvoted because HN does not tolerate negative discussion of the American Democratic Party". How a brilliant mind can be so beholden to a corrupt institution(s) (either leading American political party) is beyond me.
  - systemvoltage 4y ago
    Litmus test for high IQ is if one can criticize their own party. Better if done in person, people completely fumble followed by a profound realization.
arinlen 4y ago
> Facebook and Twitter outright admitted to blocking content related to Hunter Biden's laptop before the election 2020. They claimed it was for privacy concerns. And then after the election, there was no worry so that rule went away. Isn't that "story" pure bullshit propaganda fabricated in a desperate attempt to manipulate elections?
- PatentlyDC123 4y ago
  It was later admitted by the Times that it was real. https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-the-news-thats-finally-fit-to-print-hunter-biden-laptop-new-york-post-new-york-times-joe-biden-11647637814 https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-the-news-thats-finally-fit-...
  - arinlen 4y ago
    > It was later admitted by the Times that it was real. No, not really. That opinion piece just refers to "Hunter Biden's business dealings", which is quite the strawman when compared to the original baseless accusations and conspiracy theories fabricated around hypothetical emails. The bullshit propaganda fabricated around the laptop's conspiracy theory has bee extensively debunked and widely reported as being nothing more than propaganda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden_laptop_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden_laptop_controvers...
    - tarakat 4y ago
      That's the same trick used on the great replacement. Pick the most conspiratorial, unlikely version of it (evil Jews meeting in secret, plotting to cause immigration to turn whites into an oppressed minority in their own lands, and for no other reason), show that there is no evidence of that, the apply the label of "debunked" to anything that can be vaguely called replacement (relative demographic reduction of white population due to immigration policies enacted since the 1960s). In other words, an offensive motte and bailey strategy. Attack the motte, then claim you've destroyed the bailey.
      - 4y ago
thehappypm 4y ago
The right always has this obsession with evil McGuffins on the left. Like Hillary’s emails or Hunter’s laptop. I don’t know why voters are able to steer towards caring about these weird objects.

by andirk 4y ago

boppo1 4y ago

Not sure why this is downvoted, Zuckerberg himself acknowledged the legitimacy* of the H. Biden laptop story and that it was mistakenly blocked. Something like "There was a lot of BS going around at the time and we had to make a call on it quickly and we were wrong." It was fairly level headed if I recall. *to some extent. I know there were people claiming the laptop tied the Bidens into some sort of demon worshipping child eating cult or something, obviously that's a joke.

A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
At the time it happened, I noted that a lot of goodwill tech companies managed to accumulate over the years will be squandered on an election drama. I agree that the post-fact discussion was better, but real-time panic was palpable. Just doing all that stuff in tandem with Twitter moved the story from conspiracy theory to a simple 'they are colluding so it must be true'. It is nothing that an average information analyst would not predict. I can only assume reasonable voices were ignored.
andirk 4y ago
HN is my fave place for intellectual discourse. However, I deleted the last line of my comment before posting: "I expect to get downvoted because HN does not tolerate negative discussion of the American Democratic Party". How a brilliant mind can be so beholden to a corrupt institution(s) (either leading American political party) is beyond me.
- systemvoltage 4y ago
  Litmus test for high IQ is if one can criticize their own party. Better if done in person, people completely fumble followed by a profound realization.

arinlen 4y ago

> Facebook and Twitter outright admitted to blocking content related to Hunter Biden's laptop before the election 2020. They claimed it was for privacy concerns. And then after the election, there was no worry so that rule went away. Isn't that "story" pure bullshit propaganda fabricated in a desperate attempt to manipulate elections?

PatentlyDC123 4y ago
It was later admitted by the Times that it was real. https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-the-news-thats-finally-fit-to-print-hunter-biden-laptop-new-york-post-new-york-times-joe-biden-11647637814 https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-the-news-thats-finally-fit-...
- arinlen 4y ago
  > It was later admitted by the Times that it was real. No, not really. That opinion piece just refers to "Hunter Biden's business dealings", which is quite the strawman when compared to the original baseless accusations and conspiracy theories fabricated around hypothetical emails. The bullshit propaganda fabricated around the laptop's conspiracy theory has bee extensively debunked and widely reported as being nothing more than propaganda. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden_laptop_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden_laptop_controvers...
  - tarakat 4y ago
    That's the same trick used on the great replacement. Pick the most conspiratorial, unlikely version of it (evil Jews meeting in secret, plotting to cause immigration to turn whites into an oppressed minority in their own lands, and for no other reason), show that there is no evidence of that, the apply the label of "debunked" to anything that can be vaguely called replacement (relative demographic reduction of white population due to immigration policies enacted since the 1960s). In other words, an offensive motte and bailey strategy. Attack the motte, then claim you've destroyed the bailey.
    - 4y ago

thehappypm 4y ago

The right always has this obsession with evil McGuffins on the left. Like Hillary’s emails or Hunter’s laptop. I don’t know why voters are able to steer towards caring about these weird objects.