Meta has imposed restrictions on links shared on Threads, Instagram, and Facebook that direct users to Ken Klippenstein’s newsletter, which includes a JD Vance dossier reportedly obtained through an Iranian hack of the Trump campaign. The company has apparently removed posts containing these links and is seemingly blocking links to PDFs of the dossier hosted on external sites.
In an email to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold articulated the company’s stance:
“Our policies do not allow content from hacked sources or content leaked as part of a foreign government operation to influence US elections. We will be blocking such materials from being shared on our apps under our Community Standards.”
According to Meta’s policies on privacy violations, the sharing of details obtained from hacked sources and material revealing nonpublic information related to elections shared as part of foreign government influence operations is prohibited.
Users on Threads have reported that Meta removed their posts containing links to the dossier. Additionally, Meta appears to be disabling links to the document hosted on platforms such as Scribd and Google Drive.
Similarly, X has been blocking links to the story, and other social media users have reported difficulties in sharing the document via their Google Drive accounts. Neither Meta nor X responded to requests for comment by the press time. Inquiries have also been sent to Box, Apple, Dropbox, and Microsoft regarding any potential restrictions on the document, but no responses were received before the publication of this story.
