Twitter employees say blocking of Hunter Biden's laptop was a mistake

Former Twitter employees said at a Republican-led House committee hearing on Wednesday that the blocking of tweets related to a laptop that was allegedly owned by President Joe Biden's son Hunter was a mistake.

What Happened: The former staff members said that government officials were not involved in that decision.

The three witnesses told the committee in a subpoenaed testimony that they had the mistaken belief that the New York Post article on the laptop's contents had hacked material. They said they undid the decision to limit the spread of the story on the platform within 24 hours.

At the beginning of the proceedings, the Committee Chair James Comer R-Ky. said America witnessed a coordinated campaign by social media companies, mainstream news and the intelligence community to delegitimize Hunter Biden's laptop and its contents.

Why It Matters: The witnesses included Yoel Roth, Twitter's former Global Head of Trust Safety, Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's former Chief Legal Officer and employee Anika Collier Navaroli, reported Reuters.

Roth told the House panel that the team that enforced the rules on content was separate from Twitter s staff that dealt with the government.

Navaroli said I am here to tell you that doing nothing is not an option. Violence is going to happen if we don't do anything. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna R-Fla. presented what she said was proof that Twitter and the federal government acted together to censor Americans.

It is highly illegal. Luna said that they want you to know that you will be held accountable.

The top Democrat member of the Committee is Rep. Jamie Raskin D-Md. We have members who threaten witnesses with arrest and prosecution for clearly imaginary offenses, and raised concerns over witness intimidation. The White House said in a statement that the hearing was a bizarre political stunt spurred by Biden's win over the former President Donald Trump.

In the December Twitter Files, revealed by current owner Elon Musk, journalist Matt Taibbi showed links to tweets that Biden's team wanted to be taken down.

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