Donald Trump Accuses ‘Lamestream Media,’ Big Tech Of Suppressing Hunter Biden Story
In a series of tweets published on Wednesday, President Donald Trump attacked social media companies and members of the press, claiming that the allegations regarding Hunter Biden are being suppressed.
“It’s amazing. Twitter refuses to allow [any] mention of the Biden corruption story which was carried so well on @TuckerCarlson last night,” Trump tweeted.
“It’s the biggest story and Big Tech, together with the Lamestream Media, isn’t allowing a word to be said about it.”
In a follow-up tweet, Trump argued that both the media and technology companies are “corrupt” and called for a repeal of Section 230.
“The USA doesn’t have Freedom of the Press, we have Suppression of the Story, or just plain Fake News. So much has been learned in the last two weeks about how corrupt our Media is, and now Big Tech, maybe even worse. Repeal Section 230!” he wrote.
“Media and Big Tech are not covering Biden Corruption!” he reasserted in a third tweet.
Allegations regarding Hunter Biden — Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son — were first reported by the New York Post. The outlet obtained emails and other documents allegedly showing that the younger Biden sold access to his father and made deals with Ukrainian and Chinese oligarchs.
Social media platforms were quick to censor the report, with Twitter blocking users from sharing links to the New York Post. This sparked outrage on the right and among free speech advocates, who argued that the Silicon Valley giants are not only censoring important information but also setting a dangerous precedent.
In a column for The Intercept, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald described Facebook and Twitter’s decision to block access to the article as “dangerous corporate censorship.” He opined that the move poses a threat to journalism itself since some of the most consequential stories in history were based on “hacked” information and documents provided by sources.
Greenwald noted that the Bidens have not denied the authenticity of the emails and argued that if social media companies applied the same standard to stories regarding Trump, the public would have never learned details about his tax returns, which have been published by outlets such as The New York Times.
As The Guardian reported, Trump has been accused of waging a war on the media. Last year, his Justice Department indicted WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange over his interactions with whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010.
Even though he has frequently lashed out against Silicon Valley giants, Trump has not taken any meaningful action to curb their influence. However, Democratic lawmakers have. Earlier this month, the House Judiciary Committee released a 450-page report urging Congress to take anti-trust action, per the Associated Press.
