Twitter’s crackdown on allegedly violent and hateful content appears to be devolving into full-blown censorship of accounts that heckle liberals.
The popular account “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Press Release (parody),” was suspended late Monday night.
In an email to its creator, Twitter said, “You may not register or create fake and misleading accounts. While you may use Twitter pseudonymously or as a parody, commentary, or fan account, you may not use misleading account information in order to engage in spamming, abusive, or disruptive behavior including attempts to manipulate the conversations on Twitter.”
The account had over 85,000 followers at the time of its suspension.
The account was in full compliance with Twitter’s terms of service. The word “parody” is part of the account’s name, which is the first thing a reader sees.
Even the account biography clearly stated it was a “parody.”
The account never posted any content even remotely hateful or violent and did not violate any other of Twitter’s terms of service.
“This account will not be reinstated,” Twitter warned.
Not only did Twitter ban the AOC parody account, but it also banned the personal account of the man who created it, Michael Morrison, who tweeted as “OfficeofMike.”
“I think Twitter banned AOC Press for the increasing amounts of attention it’s been receiving lately,” Morrison told Human Events.
“In the past month and a half alone the account grew by roughly 50,000 followers. We’ve had tweets with over 30,000 likes on them, so I think Twitter decided it was time for [the account] to go. They didn’t like how popular an account created by their political opposition had become.”
Some speculate the account, and Morrison’s personal account were banned because Morrison, a Jew, had criticized Hamas for attempting to kill Israeli civilians with recent rocket attacks.
The Washington Examiner further reports:
The ban follows suspensions and bans on media platforms by several prominent right-wing figures including Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, James Woods, and Laura Loomer.
President Trump said he is monitoring the ban on conservatives by the social media platforms.
“I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms. This is the United States of America — and we have what’s known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! We are monitoring and watching, closely!!” Trump said on Twitter Friday.