NY Times’ Kara Swisher insists Twitter doesn’t ‘censor’ people, just suspends them permanently

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New York Times podcast host Kara Swisher on Friday objected to the claim that Twitter "censors" people, insisting the social media platform actually suspends people on a permanent basis with "content moderation" tools. 

Swisher, who hosts the Times’ "Sway" podcast, is a longtime tech reporter who joined MSNBC’s flagship "Morning Joe" to discuss Elon Musk’s role at Twitter now that he has purchased a large share of the social media juggernaut. During the conversation, co-host Willie Geist noted that Twitter has been under fire "from the right" and used the dreaded c-word. 

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New York Times podcast host Kara Swisher on Friday objected to the claim that Twitter "censors" people, insisting the social media platform actually suspends people on a permanent basis with "content moderation" tools.  (Getty Images)

"What does it mean for Twitter itself, which has been under some scrutiny from the right, especially for censoring certain voices there," Geist said. "Do you think this actually changes the company?"

Swisher immediately shot down the notion that Twitter censors anybody, claiming the platform simply suspends people on a permanent basis instead. 

 "Well, you are using the team 'censors,' other people don’t agree with that, so I am going to push back on that. I think it's they have content moderation like a lot of these social network sites, and the biggest one obviously is Donald Trump," Swisher said. 

"So what they did is on January 8th, they suspended him permanently, which is kind of a permanent word, and the question is, a lot of people had pushed back on that, including Elon at the time, because even if you agree he broke the rules, only one person decided that, right, on this platform and it was an important platform for Donald Trump," she continued. "I think people are worried that he’s going to bring back Donald Trump. I think on the left, I think that’s one worry. Others are worried that he’s going to allow all kinds of … bile to run over Twitter when they’ve been trying to clean it up."

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Geist didn’t respond to her objection to the term "censor," and co-host Joe Scarborough jumped in with the next question. 

Twitter famously didn’t allow the New York Post’s bombshell 2020 report about Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop to be shared on the platform and even suspended the newspaper’s account for more than two weeks, claiming there were concerns about the origins of the material. 

This week, House Republicans pressed Twitter for answers on what they called a "blatant act of censorship." Twitter has also kicked multiple high-profile users off the platform, including Trump, for a variety of reasons over the years.

Twitter doesn’t censor people, according to journalist Kara Swisher. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Last month, Musk wondered if something needed to be done to combat the social media company's penchant for censorship. Monday, it was announced that he bought a 9.2% stake in the company, becoming the largest stakeholder and joining its board of directors shortly after.

Meanwhile, Lulu Cheng Meservey, the Vice President of Communications at Substack, announced Tuesday her company was hiring, but warned Twitter employees upset that there would be "less regulated speech" with Musk on the board not to apply for a job at Substack.

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"If you’re a Twitter employee who’s considering resigning because you’re worried about Elon Musk pushing for less regulated speech… please do not come work here," she tweeted. 

Meservey told Fox News on Wednesday that her comment was just a "lighthearted poke at Twitter" and that the company welcomes "applicants from all backgrounds and with a wide range of beliefs and opinions, because diversity is strength."

Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report.