Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein faced suspension on Thursday from the social media platform X after he shared content related to Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) that was allegedly sourced from an Iranian hack targeting former President Trump’s campaign.
Klippenstein released a 271-page report, which had been created by the Trump campaign to vet Vance, now the running mate for the Republican nominee, on his Substack platform.
A representative from X commented on the situation, stating that the journalist’s account was suspended for sharing “unredacted private personal information” regarding Vance.
“Ken Klippenstein was temporarily suspended for violating our rules on posting unredacted private personal information, specifically Sen. Vance’s physical addresses and the majority of his Social Security number,” said the spokesperson.
Last month, the Trump campaign disclosed that it had been the victim of a hack, with internal documents subsequently being leaked. The FBI later verified that Iran was responsible for the cyberattack and that their aim was to disrupt both presidential campaigns.
Though the materials were made available to various media organizations, these outlets chose not to publish the stolen content.
According to an FBI report last week, Iran also attempted to provide the hacked materials to the Biden campaign. However, the Harris campaign indicated that its team members disregarded what they recognized as phishing emails sent by Iran to their personal accounts.
Klippenstein defended his decision to make the materials public via his Substack, asserting that “it’s of keen public interest in an election season.”
“[S]ince June, the news media has been sitting on it (and other documents), declining to publish in fear of finding itself at odds with the government’s campaign against ‘foreign malign influence,’” he explained.
“I’m just not a believer of the news media as an arm of the government, doing its work combatting foreign influence,” he added later. “Nor should it be a gatekeeper of what the public should know.”
{Matzav.com}