Twitter Updates Hacked Materials Policy After NY Post Controversy

Twitter has revealed a revision to its policy regarding hacked materials, stating that it will cease removing compromised content unless it is disseminated directly by the individuals responsible for the hacking or those collaborating with them.

Rather than preventing the sharing of such content or associated links on its platform, Twitter will now apply labels to tweets to “offer additional context” to users.

Existing Twitter guidelines concerning the posting of private details, fabricated or altered media, and non-consensual intimate imagery remain in effect. Consequently, the platform may still remove links to illegally obtained material if the linked content violates these other established policies. However, simply sharing a link to hacked materials will no longer automatically result in removal.

This adjustment follows the company’s recent decision to limit the distribution of an article published by the New York Post, which presented allegations that a laptop computer left at a repair facility contained emails and other data belonging to Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Twitter’s decision to restrict the article’s reach prompted strong disapproval from prominent Republican figures, including Senator Josh Hawley, who asserted that the company was “actively censoring journalists”.

Twitter’s hacked materials policy explicitly permits “reporting on a hacking incident, or sharing news coverage of hacking events.” However, the company subsequently explained that it took action because the Post article included “personal and private information – such as email addresses and phone numbers – that contravene our rules.” (Furthermore, the Post was not reporting on a hack itself, but rather on claims regarding the discovery of emails and the emails themselves.)

The New York Post article itself is subject to considerable debate. The circumstances surrounding how the data ended up in the possession of a laptop repair shop, and the subsequent transfer of that data to a prominent Trump supporter, appear questionable, suggesting a possible disinformation campaign aimed at influencing the election, as we discussed previously.

Considering concerns about the accuracy of the Post’s reporting and journalistic practices in this instance, Twitter’s decision to limit the article’s distribution may have effectively reduced the spread of misleading information, despite facing accusations of censorship.

(It has also been reported that the hard drive in question was manufactured shortly before the laptop was allegedly brought to the shop. This suggests the possibility that Hunter Biden’s iCloud account was compromised and fabricated emails were placed on the drive to create the illusion of a data “discovery” and subsequent leak to the media in an attempt to sway the U.S. presidential election. However, Twitter is clearly sensitive to the criticism that enforcing its policy led to accusations of censoring journalists.)

In a series of tweets detailing the policy change, Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of legal, policy, trust and safety, stated: “We aim to address concerns that there could be unintended consequences for journalists, whistleblowers, and others, in ways that contradict Twitter’s mission of fostering public conversation.”

She also pointed out that when the hacked materials policy was initially implemented in 2018, Twitter had fewer resources for policy enforcement. She added: “We have recently introduced new product features, such as labels, to provide users with additional context. We are no longer restricted to removing tweets as the sole enforcement measure.”

Earlier this year, Twitter began adding contextual labels to tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump that violated its policies, rather than removing them entirely. The company has continued to expand the use of these contextual signals, such as adding fact-checking labels to tweets promoting certain conspiracy theories, providing a “more speech to counteract bad speech” approach to enforcement, as opposed to the more severe measures of tweet removal or account suspension (which have also been applied to the QAnon conspiracy group).

“We believe that labeling Tweets and empowering users to evaluate content for themselves better serves the public interest and promotes public discourse. The Hacked Material Policy is being updated to reflect these new enforcement capabilities,” Gadde explained, adding: “Content moderation is exceptionally challenging, particularly during a critical election period. We are striving to act responsibly and swiftly to prevent harm, but we are still learning as we go.”

The revised policy is not a complete free-for-all, as all other Twitter rules regarding hacked material remain applicable (including prohibitions against doxxing). However, it remains to be seen whether tweets linking to the Post article would still be removed under the updated policy if the story were to contain personal information (which is still a violation of Twitter’s policies).

Furthermore, the new policy for handling hacked materials allows Twitter’s platform to potentially serve as a channel for the dissemination of political disinformation (albeit with some contextual information), in cases where it has been presented by the media. (Twitter can, however, reasonably attribute blame to inadequate journalistic standards in such instances.)

The new policy also raises questions about how Twitter will determine whether an individual is acting “in concert” with hackers. For example, if President Trump were to share highly questionable information about a political opponent on the eve of the election, claiming he received it from Russian President Vladimir Putin, would Twitter intervene and remove it?

We can only hope that scenario does not arise.