Twitter's Jack Dorsey acknowledges 'errors' in New York Post block

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey at a Senate tech hearing on Wednesday again acknowledged the company's decision to block a controversial New York Post article was "incorrect" as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) confronted him on the subject.

During Senate Commerce Committee testimony, Cruz hearing questioned Dorsey and blasted the platform for recently blocking a New York Post story about Hunter Biden, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's son. Twitter said at the time it did so because the article violated its hacked materials policy, but the company soon tweaked this policy and allowed the main Post article in question to be shared again.

"Our team made a fast decision," Dorsey told Cruz. "The enforcement action, however, of blocking URLs, both in tweets and in direct messages, we believe was incorrect, and we changed it."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Cruz pointed out the New York Post is still blocked from tweeting from their account, to which Dorsey responded that the publication can regain access if they delete their original tweet, though he said they can then tweet "the exact same" article again afterward. Dorsey went on to say that Twitter "recognized errors" with its policy that led to the article being blocked, though Cruz was not satisfied with these answers.

"Mr. Dorsey, who the hell elected you and put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report and what the American people are allowed to hear?" Cruz asked. "And why do you persist in behaving as a Democratic Super PAC silencing views to the contrary of your political beliefs?"

Dorsey, who also argued Twitter does not have the ability to influence elections, told Cruz that Twitter is "not doing that" but that "I hear the concerns and acknowledge them." Brendan Morrow