Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Restricts Links to Hacked JD Vance Dossier

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, is blocking links to a dossier allegedly containing sensitive information about Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), which was obtained through an Iranian hack of the Trump campaign.

The Verge reports that in a move to enforce its policies against sharing content from hacked sources and foreign government interference in U.S. elections, Meta has begun restricting links to a newsletter containing an alleged dossier on Sen. JD Vance, Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate. The document, which was obtained through an Iranian hack of the Trump campaign, has been circulating on various social media platforms.

According to Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold, the company’s policies “do not allow content from hacked sources or content leaked as part of a foreign government operation to influence US elections.” As a result, Meta has taken steps to block the sharing of such materials on its apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and the recently launched Threads.

Users on Threads have reported that their posts containing links to the dossier have been removed by Meta. The company also appears to be disabling links to the document hosted on other platforms, such as Scribd and Google Drive. However, Meta does not seem to be blocking posts about the dossier or searches related to it.

The alleged JD Vance dossier was published in a newsletter by journalist Ken Klippenstein. In response to Meta’s actions, users have resorted to sharing links to Google searches for Klippenstein’s Substack article or posting the direct link with random spaces, words in place of punctuation, or even QR codes to circumvent the restrictions.

Meta is not alone in its efforts to limit the spread of the document. X, formerly known as Twitter, has also been blocking links to the story. Some users have reported being unable to share the document via their Google Drive accounts, although this appears to be inconsistent, as some users have successfully shared it between personal accounts.