CNN pundit downplays Big Tech censorship of Hunter Biden laptop in 2020, calls government collusion 'nonsense'

CNN contributor Kara Swisher raised eyebrows as she significantly downplayed Big Tech's censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election and called claims of collusion between tech companies and the federal government "absolute nonsense."

On Wednesday night, a CNN panel discussion put a spotlight on comments made by Republican vice-presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, who suggested that President Biden's victory was illegitimate by pointing to how social media giants "verifiably" "censored Americans from talking about things like the Hunter Biden laptop story," saying that had a "major, major consequence" on the results of the previous election. 

"There is no proof that tech companies colluded to do this," Swisher reacted. "This is nonsense and he knows it."

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CNN contributor Kara Swisher raised eyebrows when she downplayed the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election. (Screenshot/CNN)

Fellow panelist, conservative CNN political analyst Scott Jennings, pushed back, saying there was an "institutional effort" to suppress the New York Post's bombshell reporting on the laptop. 

"I have been one of the biggest critics of tech. This is nonsense. Absolute nonsense," Swisher doubled down.

"Wasn't the New York Post thrown off of Twitter?" Jennings asked. 

As Jennings attempted to refute Swisher, CNN anchor Abby Phillip interjected to validate Swisher as a tech journalist, telling him Swisher "has done actual reporting on this" and that she's "done the work."

"I don't know why you keep repeating things that aren't true," Swisher told Jennings. 

"Did they get thrown off of Twitter? It's true!" Jennings reacted.

"They did, and then [Twitter] said they made a mistake and they put them right back on, just like CNN does, just like The New York Time does," Swisher responded. "It wasn't after the election, it was during the time… and [then-Twitter CEO] Jack Dorsey switched."

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Big tech famously dismissed the New York Post's bombshell reporting during the 2020 presidential election. The Post reporting was famously censored by Twitter ahead of the 2020 election. (Getty images  |  New York Post)

Swisher continued, "So I think what the issue is – is you think Twitter is the government. You think Twitter is running things. And there is not this wide collusion. And JD Vance knows that because he's worked in tech. He knows there's no such thing as Big Tech. There are big tech companies. They do not collude on this issue."

However, Swisher was incorrect when she claimed The New York Post was put "right back on" Twitter (now called X). The New York Post's account was locked for a whopping 16 days because it refused to take down its posts linking to its Hunter Biden laptop reporting, being let back on the platform less than a week before Election Day 2020. 

Also left unmentioned was how Twitter blocked its users from even sharing the links through direct messages and that Twitter users including then-White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany had their accounts locked for sharing the Post's reporting, claiming they violated Twitter's rules "against distribution of hacked material" despite the fact the Biden campaign never claimed the laptop was hacked. 

Additionally, Swisher's assertion that there was no collusion between the social media giants and the government is undercut by the revelations from the Twitter Files, which showed how the FBI and DOJ informed Twitter about a potential "hack and leak" operation from Russia pertaining to Hunter Biden before the New York Post ran its story.  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also admitted in August how his company was pressured by the Biden administration to remove COVID-related content it deemed misinformation and that the FBI previously warned about "Russian propaganda" before Hunter Biden's laptop surfaced.

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Conservative CNN analyst Scott Jennings clashed with liberal colleague Kara Swisher over Big Tech's role in the 2020 election during a panel discussion. (Screenshot/CNN)

Critics took aim at Swisher's comments on social media. 

"Yes, this is all a complete lie from @karaswisher on CNN - as they claim she's the one who ‘knows,’" independent journalist Glenn Greenwald reacted. Twitter locked the NY Post out of their account for 2 weeks - until **3 days before the election** - because the NY Post refused to remove links to 6 stories about Biden."

"The Hunter Biden laptop story was obviously suppressed by Twitter and Facebook," Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi reacted. "Mark Zuckerberg’s letters, the deposition of FBI agent Elvis Chan, the FEC declaration of Yoel Roth, and other docs show the FBI at minimum falsely warned of a foreign ‘hack and leak’ operation."

"Perfect example of the arrogance of pigheaded ignorance," New York Post columnist Miranda Devine said. "The @nypost twitter account was locked for two weeks, until a few days before the 2020 election. People like @kayleighmcenany were suspended just for trying to privately DM a link to our story. You don’t know what you are talking about @karaswisher."

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CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.