"Only Censorship in the North"... Republicans Push to Summon Twitter Over Blocking Ukraine Allegation Articles

Previous Day New York Post Article on Biden Candidate Ukraine Scandal Allegations
Republicans and Trump Camp Backlash After Facebook and Twitter Block Article Sharing

▲Kayleigh McEnany, White House Press Secretary [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Twitter and Facebook, which became regulatory targets of the Donald Trump administration due to fact-check labels, are now facing a backlash with CEO subpoenas. The White House and the Republican Party have reacted strongly after these platforms blocked the sharing of articles related to Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden's Ukraine scandal. The White House did not hide its displeasure, stating that "censorship is something that would only happen in North Korea."

On the 15th (local time), according to U.S. media including The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham and Senator Josh Hawley announced that a vote will be held on the 20th regarding the issuance of a subpoena for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to appear before the Judiciary Committee.

Senator Hawley said, "We have sent letters requesting Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to appear before Congress before the November election," adding, "If necessary, we will consider subpoenas."

The strong stance taken by Republican lawmakers stems from an article about Joe Biden's Ukraine scandal published the previous day in the New York Post. The New York Post reported that it had obtained emails related to the Ukraine scandal involving Biden's son Hunter's employment at the Ukrainian energy company 'Burisma Holdings,' calling it a 'smoking gun.' In response, President Trump's re-election campaign account (@TeamTrump) posted a link to the article, and Twitter temporarily blocked the tweet, citing a violation of internal policies. For the same reason, Twitter also blocked tweets from the New York Post and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's accounts for a day.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz argued, "With only 19 days left until the election, the major social networking service (SNS) companies silencing the press is a clear violation of election law."

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany criticized Twitter via Twitter, saying, "Censoring political speech is something that would happen in China, North Korea, or Iran, not in the United States," adding, "This will intimidate all Americans who value freedom and open discussion." McEnany also included the hashtag #TwitterCensorship in her post.

In a tweet posted the previous night, Press Secretary McEnany condemned censorship and specifically mentioned Twitter and Facebook.

CEO Dorsey clarified that the action was not under his direction. On his Twitter account, Dorsey wrote, "Our communication around this action was not smooth," and added, "Blocking the sharing of links via tweets or direct messages (DMs) without context as to why is unacceptable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.