Was a website that posted photos from Hunter Biden's laptop shut down for distributing child porn? No, that's not true: The social media account that originated the claim routinely posts satire. The tweet that began the claim was deleted from the account and a reply to the tweet read, "Folks, this is satire."
The claim appeared as a post (archived here) on Facebook on June 5, 2023. It opened:
BREAKING
Website hosting Hunter Biden photo archive shut down for distributing child porn
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Jun 7 19:27:33 2023 UTC)
The message posted on Facebook is a screenshot taken from a June 4, 2023, tweet by @thatmattersnews, which is a satirical account. The tweet has been deleted but is archived here.
The News That Matters account posted a reply to its now-deleted Tweet that said, "Folks, this is satire":
Folks, this is satire
-- News That Matters (@ThatmattersNews) June 4, 2023
The pinned tweet on the News That Matters Twitter clearly shows this account deals in satire:
REPORT
-- News That Matters (@ThatmattersNews) August 17, 2022
A new study shows that a shocking number of American adults have trouble spelling the word 'satire,' let alone recognizing it pic.twitter.com/Ojr6HhtofB
Other posts on the account mock elected officials such as this one making fun of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's weight:
BREAKING
-- News That Matters (@ThatmattersNews) June 7, 2023
Whistleblower alleges Chris Christie is fat pic.twitter.com/xaw1YSz0a4
Lead Stories has debunked several claims related to Hunter Biden's laptop, which can be found here.
