In response to Twitter's "purge" of their accounts, alt-right leaders ask media to stand for free expression.
Twitter "Purge"
Just hours after announcing some changes aimed to reduce harassment on its social media platform, Twitter suspended the accounts of prominent alt-right users on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The members of the white supremacist movement are now calling for journalists to condemn the actions.
Jared Taylor and Richard Spencer and Jared Taylor, well-known alt-right leaders within the movement,sent a statement to BuzzFeed calling Twitter's measures "politically motivated" and "outrageous." In response to the purge of Twitter accounts associated with the alt-right, the two leaders called on journalists to take a stand for free expression.
Taylor is the founder and editor of the website American Renaissance, a "race-realist" outlet in his own description. Spencer is the president of The National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think tank. The statement the duo provided to BuzzFeed also suggests that those media outlets that don't follow their call to condemn Twitter's censorship will be banned from upcoming events because are assumed to "support the suppression of certain political views."
According to the statement, several of the banned accounts were in no way guilty of "harassment" or trolling, leading to the conclusion that the bans were politically motivated. However, the Twitter Rules prohibit hateful conduct, harassment, violent threats and multiple account abuse and the company seems to have acted in accordance with those rules.
Online Abuse On Twitter
According to Chron, the open nature of Twitter has made it easy in the past to insult, harass and threaten total strangers. According to The Wrap, trolling has become such an issue that Melania Trump, President-elect's wife, plans to make cyberbullying a key issue when she becomes first lady in January.
According to Yahoo News, online social networks have been struggling to balance free speech with aggression and intimidation that make many users to fear speaking freely. Previously, as part of increased efforts to eradicate "terrorist content" on the popular messaging platform, Twitter suspended in February over 125,000 accounts, most of them linked to the Islamic State group.
