Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, slammed Twitter on Tuesday, April 26 for suspending the news organization’s account for reporting what he called “a truthful story.” Musk added that the social media platform’s decision to restrict the American-based news site that published a report on US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden in 2020 was “incredibly inappropriate.” Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings were detailed in the news before of the 2020 presidential election.
“Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organisation for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate,” tweeted Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organization for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2022
Musk had replied to reporter Saagar Enjeti’s tweet by sharing a Politico article about Twitter’s top lawyer “was in tears” when discussing the company’s new ownership. “Vijaya Gadde, the top censorship advocate at Twitter who famously gaslit the world on Joe Rogan’s podcast and censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, is very upset about the Elon Musk’s takeover,” Enjeti stated.
Twitter has been accused by the Republican National Committee of suffocating free speech and cracking down on journalism organizations.
Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organization for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2022
Musk then responded, claiming that the platform had abused its power by restricting freedom of speech, citing a New York Post article that revealed thousands of emails detailing how then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s son used his political clout to engage in offshore business dealings in China and Ukraine. The news outlet highlighted a plethora of information gleaned from Hunter Biden’s laptop, and Twitter justified the restriction by claiming that the investigative coverage contained “content obtained through hacking that contains private information.”
“The images contained in the articles include personal and private information — like email addresses and phone numbers — which violate our rules,” the company had tweeted.
With messages and financial transactions analyzed from the same laptop, Hunter Biden and his business operations became the “central target” of the investigation and oversight committee.
The federal government is looking into Biden’s son’s taxes and foreign business dealings, particularly his position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company and his efforts to strike deals in China, which have fueled speculation that he used his father’s public service as leverage, as evidenced by references in his emails.