Twitter Claims 'Error' in Blacklisting Students for Trump
Twitter claims that it has made an “error” in blacklisting the Students for Trump Twitter account on Wednesday. The suspension of the Pro-Trump student group has been reversed.
“We use a combination of technology and human review to surface harmful content proactively on the service,” said a Twitter spokesperson in a statement to the Washington Times.
“In this case, the account you referenced was flagged by our automated systems in error,” the spokesperson added. “This has been reversed, and access to the account has been reinstated.”
On Wednesday, Students for Trump co-chair Ryan Fournier announced that the Students for Trump Twitter account had been locked until Inauguration Day without explanation.
“Unbelievable. We are locked out of the Students for Trump account until after Inauguration Day,” tweeted Fournier. “No violations. No warnings. Nothing.”
Unbelievable.
We are locked out of the Students for Trump account until after Inauguration Day.
No violations. No warnings. Nothing.
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) January 13, 2021
Last week, Twitter permanently banned President Donald Trump, claiming that his tweets have incited violence on Capitol Hill.
Following Trump’s ban, several prominent conservative Twitter accounts have reported losing tens of thousands of followers on the platform. Twitter has since banned more than 70,000 accounts it claims are linked to the QAnon movement.
Twitter has also permanently suspended accounts for former national security adviser Micahel Flynn, pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, and former administrator of the message board 8kun Ron Watkins.
While some accounts have been banned, other conservatives have taken it upon themselves to leave the platform, willingly.
Last week, nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh deactivated his Twitter account after the social media platform permanently banned President Trump’s account.
Since then, other prominent conservatives. such as Greg Gutfeld, Mark Levin, and Lou Dobbs, have joined Limbaugh in leaving the platform, urging their followers to join them on the social media platform Parler, an alternative to Twitter.
While conservatives flocked to Parler, Google and Apple both banned Parler from their app stores — effectively excluded the app from Android and iPhone smartphones.
Following that motion by the two tech giants, Amazon booted Parler off its web hosting service, knocking the platform offline until it can find a new host.
Google, Apple, and Amazon all justify their decision to ban Parler by claiming that words will “incite violence” — a narrative that big tech companies are now using to take action against the president, political dissenters, and their competition.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler at @alana, and on Instagram.