UPDATE 2: Twitter has responded to Senator Cruz’s accusation by saying it was an AMP link issue. See below (and continue scrolling for the original story)
UPDATE: Senator Ted Cruz just accused Jack Dorsey of lying under oath, which is a felony during a Senate hearing. Cruz recorded video of him trying to tweet the New York Post story in question, and Twitter blocked the URL.
We’ll continue to update this developing story as necessary.
ORIGINAL STORY
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is standing before a Senate Commerce Committee and facing tough questions about an apparent double standard when it comes to censorship. Multiple Senators, including Ted Cruz, left Dorsey fumbling to explain this glaring disparity in censorship application.
Senator Cory Gardner (R. Colorado) grilled Dorsey about the stunning decision to allow Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s tweets calling for violence against Israel to stand, while The New York Post continues to be locked out of their account for posting their damaging Joe Biden story.
Bari Weiss summed up the discrep by tweeting, “Just making sure I’ve got this @Twitter, @Jack: oppo dump on Biden is misinformation and Holocaust denial is not?”
Senator Ted Cruz (R. Texas) asked Dorsey if he believed Twitter could impact elections, to which the CEO responded with a flat “no”. A visibly stunned Cruz fired back, “If you don’t think you have the power to influence the elections, why do you block anything?”
Dorsey fumbled to find solid footing, but never really landed on anything of substance.
Incredibly, this tweet from the Ayatollah from 2014 denying the Holocaust still remains:
He also encouraged nations to “fight” the “Zionist regime” and promised to support anyone who does so.
In a speech earlier this year, the Ayatollah referred to Israel as a “cancer” that must be “destroyed”.
“The Zionist regime is a deadly, cancerous growth and a detriment to this region. It will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also appeared at the Senate hearing today.