The other big question was, would Tumblr give up Colbert's data to the government? Karp's answer to that was to blink and say nothing.

Both answers, aroma of attorney.

May as well have had the lawyer do the interview instead.

This sort of spin is marvelously effective because, even though it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who recognizes it for what it is, it allows people in Karp's position to dig rhetorical trenches out in front of the substance of their actions and redirect any discussion into one about defining terms. It doesn't matter one whit that making it prohibitively hard for anyone to access content is just as much censorship of that content as disallowing it entirely is; nothing sucks the air out of a discussion faster than an extended yes-it-is/no-it-isn't headbutting contest over the meaning of a word.