UX suspended the account of journalist Ken Klippenstein earlier this afternoon. X’s security account says they issued the suspension “for violating our rules on posting classified information that has not been changed, specifically Sen. [J.D.] Vance’s physical address and the large amount of his social security number.”
Many media outlets that have received the hacked Republican vice president’s investigative dossier have chosen not to publish the sensitive document because it contains personal information. Klippenstein felt the paper was newsworthy and decided to publish it on Substack and his social media channels and one of them deleted his account.
Engadget has viewed the dossier and can confirm the information stated by X’s security team is present and has not been redacted in Klippenstein’s copy of the document except for the last four digits of Vance’s social security number.
Klippenstein explained his decision to defy media pressure and release Sen. Vance on his Substack. President Trump’s campaign has accused the Iranian government more than once of hacking its files and released the dossier back in June. Some media outlets have chosen not to publish the document but Klippenstein says he feels they have refused “for fear of finding themselves at odds with the government’s campaign[waseMelika]to fight ‘bad foreign influence’” referring to the National Counterterrorism Center organization with the same name as that group. aims to prevent interference in elections.[US}government’scampaignagainst’foreignmaligninfluence’”referringtotheNationalCounterterrorismCenter’sorganizationofthesamenamethaseeksstopreventinterferenceinelections[US}government’scampaignagainst‘foreignmaligninfluence’”referringtotheNationalCounterterrorismCenter’sorganizationofthesamenamethatseekstopreventinterferenceinelections
“I disagree,” added Klippenstein. “The dossier was given to me and I decided to publish it because it will be of interest to the public during the election.”
The suspension goes beyond Klippenstein’s account. UX tags the link in the file and automatically blocks anyone who tries to post it. Those who receive a warning from X that says “We cannot complete this request because this link has been identified by X or our partners as high risk.”
IX (then Twitter) updated its “hacked content” policy after it blocked stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020, saying it would allow stories about hacked content but not links to content if it was published by a hacker or someone working “e. concert” with them.
Update, September 27 2024, 1:55PM ET: Meta will also block the sharing of a newsletter containing Vance’s personal information, according to a Washington Post report. The company told the Post Office that sharing the information is against its policies on stolen goods and foreign interference.