New York Times Double Standards? Why Does the Paper Run Op-Eds by Iranian Officials but Not Conservative Americans?

Weeks after the controversy sparked by the US-based newspaper's decision to take down an opinion article written by a Republican senator, Americans are still discussing whether or not the prominent paper has room for all American voices or not.

In his June 3rd op-ed published in the NYT, US Senator from Arkansas Tom Cotton had called on US troops to be deployed to cities where Black Lives Matter protests had erupted following the death of African American George Floyd. The article that ignited a lot of anger among NYT  editors, who argued that his opinion article "threatens lives of Black editors at the paper," forced the paper to review the choice of article and senior editor James Bennet to resign, after calling it "a non-factual" piece.

While the paper's decision was welcomed by liberal commentators, more conservative voices questioned the NYT's commitment to free speech. 

Some social media users wondered whether the liberal newspaper would rather represent only one part of the country, than allow voices they don't agree with in their opinion section.

Some commentators went on to accuse the NYT of having double standards, highlighting that it has often allowed officials from countries with anti-American stances to run their op-eds, such as the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif.