Twitter says it is now letting the NY Post link be shared because the info had spread so widely that it can no longer be considered private
I obviously believe what they did this week was dangerously wrong — but they continue to be one of the best large companies, certainly tech companies, for engaging their critics and being responsive and candid in admitting error: https://twitter.com/... @genepark : the extent to which we have huge national debates about chat moderator rules is going to turn me into the joker https://twitter.com/... Allen Covert / @thatallencovert : Can't stop the signal Mal. https://twitter.com/... Andres Aristizabal / @aaristi1976 : That's some crazy logic. They basically gave up and let the doors swing open all the way. https://twitter.com/... Shirin Ghaffary / @shiringhaffary : After facing pressure from Republicans, Twitter has now reversed course on how it's handling the unsubstantiated NY Post story. https://twitter.com/... Michael Selvidge / @selviano : having a consistent, full time CEO might help to minimize the dithering and flailing around. Just a thought https://twitter.com/... James Mcleod / @jamespmcleod : Working the refs ... works. https://twitter.com/... Jinni / @jinnihtx : “In his New York Times op-ed last October, ... Matt Stoller described Facebook and Google as “global monopolies sitting astride public discourse,” https://twitter.com/... Jason Kint / @jason_kint : I agree with this. Eliminating tools spreading the post is a good call but I was uncomfortable with blocking of links. The label and removing social tools is better. “The company has since increasingly opted to label tweets, adding context or saying if they glorified violence.” https://twitter.com/... Farhad Manjoo / @fmanjoo : we're changing the policy that led to this but it also violates another policy https://twitter.com/... See also Mediagazer
New York Times
Context & Ripple Effects
Two days after [[a:958986|clarifying that the NY Post story violated its Hacked Materials Policy over private information]], Twitter is reversing course: the material has now spread so widely that it no longer qualifies as private, so sharing is allowed again. The about-face lands after days of national argument over moderator rules — and criticism, echoed in the reactions cited here, that the policy was effectively surrendered once virality outran enforcement.
First-order effects
Users can immediately share the NY Post link again, meaning Twitter's own stated basis for the original block — private information under its Hacked Materials Policy — is now overridden by how far the information has already traveled.
The platform's defenders, who had argued two days earlier via [[a:959026|Platformer that Facebook and Twitter deserved credit for rapidly restricting the hack-and-leak operation]], are left defending an enforcement action the company itself has just unwound.
Second-order effects
Political pressure on Twitter intensifies rather than eases: critics like Republicans and the commenters quoted in the article read the reversal as giving up enforcement entirely, which raises the cost of the next moderation decision either way.
Facebook, which applied its own restrictions to the same story, faces asymmetric scrutiny — its counterpart's public reversal makes its handling of the same allegations a fresh point of comparison for regulators and users.
Third-order effects
If enforced rules can be voided by spread, platform policies drift toward being contestable after the fact rather than fixed in advance — a shift Twitter itself confirms weeks later when it [[a:959537|lifts the remaining restrictions on the NY Post's account and abandons its practice of not retroactively overturning prior enforcement]].
The trend: Content moderation is moving from rule-based enforcement toward reversible, pressure-sensitive decisions, where a platform's own policy can be superseded by how widely contested material has already spread.
While Facebook says the New York Post story must be kept out of sight until verified, the standard for the Steele dossier was opposite. In that case, we were told “raw intelligence” should be published so that “Americans can make up their own minds.” https://taibbi.substack.com/ …
My memory of the dossier getting published was there was near universal criticism from chin-stroking Serious Journalism types about how irresponsible it was to publish it https://twitter.com/...
i was kidding yesterday when i said tune in tomorrow but..... NEW: twitter has changed its policy *again* and will now allow people to share the NYPost story links because the article and information has been widely disseminated and is no longer private https://www.nytimes.com/..…
Context on GOP attacks on Twitter & FB: “It has been known for months that RU intelligence was using allies in Ukraine...Intelligence officials warned Rs in Congress that people they were seeking information from were conduits for RU disinformation.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
This would be a whole lot more straightforward if Twitter would ban it for honest reasons: That it's obviously a planted story designed to interfere with the election & its Twitter's civil duty to deplatform it. https://twitter.com/...
So Twitter realized the standard they set (claimed to have set two years ago), if equally applied, would require tons of reporting to be censored. So they made up a new reason for blocking the NY Post link. Got it. https://twitter.com/...
Twitter takes bold stance against poorly reported story citing shady crooks as key sources, unless that makes anyone mad, in which case they're fine with it! https://twitter.com/...
There are lots of valid criticisms of Twitter — I obviously believe what they did this week was dangerously wrong — but they continue to be one of the best large companies, certainly tech companies, for engaging their critics and being responsive and candid in admitting error: ht…
After facing pressure from Republicans, Twitter has now reversed course on how it's handling the unsubstantiated NY Post story. https://twitter.com/...
“In his New York Times op-ed last October, ... Matt Stoller described Facebook and Google as “global monopolies sitting astride public discourse,” https://twitter.com/...
I agree with this. Eliminating tools spreading the post is a good call but I was uncomfortable with blocking of links. The label and removing social tools is better. “The company has since increasingly opted to label tweets, adding context or saying if they glorified violence.” h…