Ahead of US elections, Facebook, Twitter restrict controversial Biden article

The New York Post article—titled 'Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad'—implicates Biden, a former US Vice President, in connection with Hunter's Ukraine business.

The unnamed owner of the repair shop in Delaware where the computer had supposedly been left had told the publication that he transferred a copy of the hard drive to Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

On Wednesday, Twitter blocked users from sharing links to the article or photos from it.

Users attempting to share it were shown the message: "We can't complete this request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful."

Clicking or retweeting a link already posted to Twitter reflected a warning that the "link may be unsafe."

Twitter later explained its actions saying the restrictions were imposed due to the questionable nature of "the origins of the materials."

Twitter's policies prohibit "directly distribut[ing] content obtained through hacking that contains private information."

Some of the images contained in the article contained personal and private information, Twitter added.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged that the company's initial communication could have shared more context.

Twitter's decision to restrict the article marks the first time that the company has directly limited the spread of information from a news website.

Twitter also reportedly locked the personal account of the White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday for sharing the article.

The firm has been taking steps to implement stricter rules around misinformation ahead of the 2020 US Presidential elections.

Twitter's actions drew criticism from conservatives, who accused the social media giants of censorship and shielding Biden.

A New York Post editorial called Facebook and Twitter "propaganda machines."

Trump also tweeted saying it was "terrible" that the companies "took down" the article and reiterated calls to "repeal Section 230"—which keeps website hosts from being held responsible for the content posted.

Meanwhile, Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said, "Investigations by the press, during impeachment, and even by two Republican-led Senate committees whose work was decried as 'not legitimate' and political by a GOP colleague, have all reached the same conclusion: that Joe Biden carried out official US policy toward Ukraine and engaged in no wrongdoing"

"Trump administration officials have attested to these facts under oath."