White House on Twitter Censorship: "Only in North Korea"... Republicans Push to Summon CEO

by Paek Jongmin

Published 16 Oct.2020 05:35(KST)

Opposition to Blocking Articles on Hunter Biden's Ukraine Scandal Allegations

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The White House and the Republican Party in the U.S. have issued sharp warnings to Twitter for blocking the spread of reports on the scandal allegations involving Hunter, son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany criticized Twitter on the 15th (local time), saying that censoring political speech is something that only happens in countries like North Korea.

McEnany wrote on Twitter, "Censoring political speech is not something you expect in the United States, but rather in China, North Korea, or Iran."

McEnany also added the hashtag #TwitterCensorship to her post.

Twitter attaches warning labels to tweets it deems to contain false information to alert users. Similar measures have been taken multiple times on tweets by President Donald Trump.

Despite several blocking actions, the White House and the Republican Party became agitated this time because Twitter blocked an opportunity used to shake Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Twitter blocked content from the New York Post report claiming that Biden’s son Hunter introduced a person from the Ukrainian energy company 'Burisma Holdings' to Biden. After this report, President Donald Trump intensified his Ukraine scandal attacks during his campaign, and when Twitter blocked the report, dissatisfaction exploded.

The Republican Party immediately launched an offensive. According to Politico, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Ted Cruz, and Senator Josh Hawley announced that they will vote next week on whether to summon Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Since the Judiciary Committee is led by the Republicans, it seems likely that Dorsey will be summoned.