Twitter advertises itself as a medium for free speech and a “voice” to help “citizens” change the world with their opinions.
Problem is, according to some, Twitter only allows some “citizens” that “voice”: liberals, it seems, have one, and conservative don’t, if the shadow banning and temporary suspension of the latter prove anything.
Even conservatives of the anti-Trump kind are having trouble.
Twitter Temporarily Suspends Never Trumper
Two weeks ago, as The New American reported, Twitter was forced into reversing its move to block prominent Republicans from showing up in search results. But now, the platform is suspending conservatives outright.
Never Trumper Jim Treacher, who blogs for PJ Media, says Twitter’s “Trust and Safety Council is working overtime to can conservatives.”
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According to Treacher, Twitter silenced him for 12 hours for no apparent reason … at least that Twitter would disclose:
Sometimes I think all the hand-wringing about some sort of online “war on conservatives” is silly…. I tend to be skeptical of these complaints, but it’s possible that there really is an ongoing conspiracy to silence half the country. I have to admit, it would explain why I keep getting suspended from Twitter for no good reason. Maybe Twitter really is out to get conservatives, even us RINO cuck #NeverTrump traitors who probably love Hillary.
Just yesterday, I got locked out of my main Twitter account (@jtLOL) for 12 hours.
Twitter’s Tweet explained that “we’ve temporarily limited some of your account features” because “we have determined that you have violated the Twitter Rules…. Your account will be restored to full functionality in 11 hours 58 minutes.”
The account was fully restored 12 hours later, but Treacher was mystified: “What rule did I break?” he asked:
I have no idea, and apparently they’re not going to tell me. How do I avoid breaking that rule again? Beats me. It’s tough to avoid repeating the infraction if I don’t know what it was. (Good lookin’ out, Franz Kafka.)
Several other non-liberals I know also got a 12-hour lockout at the exact same time. Why? They don’t know either.
Writing at The Federalist, Mike Morrison, director of communications for American Majority, a school for conservative activists, explained that leftists on Twitter might be manipulating its blocking feature to get conservatives in trouble.
Stating that liberals more frequently block friends on Facebook over ideological disagreements, Morrison concluded that such blocking occurs on Twitter as well, particularly with a tool called Block Together:
Block Together is a tool that was developed to prevent harassment on Twitter by creating mass blocking lists. An individual can create a list of Twitter users they block, then share that list so others can easily upload it to their profile and block those individuals….
Currently, Twitter doesn’t allow you to search and see who, if anyone has blocked you. However, a Twitter account called The Unblocker allows you to scan publicly available Block Together lists and see if you’re on any. I did and it turns out I’m on 12 blocklists….
I have no idea why I’m on the list.
Jones Banned for Seven Days
The latest Twitter contretemps comes on the heels of its seven-day suspension of Alex Jones and his highly popular website, Infowars.com.
Twitter acted against Jones, the New York Times reported, “after he tweeted a link to a video calling for supporters to get their ‘battle rifles’ ready against media and others, in a violation of the company’s rules against inciting violence.”
But the mass-blocking feature might be one reason Twitter finally surrendered to the anti-Jones mob. A popular Twitter personality, anti-Trump leftist Shannon Coulter, used Block Together to stifle the accounts of Fortune 500 companies until Jones got the boot. And she encouraged others to do likewise.
And of course, Facebook, YouTube, and Apple iTunes banned Jones for “hate speech.”
But the anti-Jones ringleader is CNN media “reporter” Oliver Darcy, who campaigned from within the confines of the supposedly impartial media. Darcy repeatedly attacked Facebook executives for not banning Jones and waged something of a one-man campaign until the craze caught on and the mob lit torches and grabbed pitchforks, so to speak.
But back to Twitter and its claims:
On Twitter, every voice has the power to shape the world. We see this power every day, from activists who use Twitter to mobilize citizens to content creators who use Twitter to shape opinion.
To ensure people can continue to express themselves freely and safely on Twitter, we must provide more tools and policies.
Every voice, it seems, except that of Alex Jones.
