Twitter Suppresses New York Post Hunter Biden Story Days Before 2020 Election
Twitter blocked users from sharing a New York Post story about Hunter Biden's laptop and the business dealings it documented — locking the Post's account and preventing users from posting the article's URL, including via direct message. The decision was made days before the 2020 US presidential election. Vijaya Gadde personally approved the suppression. Twitter's then-head of Trust & Safety Yoel Roth later acknowledged the action had no clear policy basis. The story's authenticity was subsequently confirmed by the New York Times and Washington Post. The Twitter Files (2022) revealed the suppression followed informal outreach from Democratic Party operatives and an FBI briefing warning platforms to be alert to "hack and leak" operations — which had pre-emptively framed the authentic story as potential disinformation.