Twitter has suspended the accounts of several prominent members of the so-called “alt-right” in an apparent crack down on accounts tied to hate speech or threats of violence.
Twitter declined comment, but said that its policies forbid violent threats, hate speech or harassment and promise to take action against violators.
The company on Tuesday also announced that it was expanding ways for users to report harassment and curb the amount of abuse they see, a reaction to a reported growth in abuse, bullying and harassment on the Internet.
The alt-right, short for “alternative right,” is a loose group espousing preservation of a “white identity,” opposition to multiculturalism and defense of “Western values.”
The movement drew attention during the US presidential campaign, especially after Stephen Bannon of the Breitbart Web site, considered by many to be the alt-right’s platform, joined the campaign of Donald Trump, now US president-elect. Trump recently named Bannon as White House chief strategist.
Richard Spencer, head of the National Policy Institute think tank, said in an interview that his Twitter account and accounts for the institute and his magazine were all suspended this week without notification.
Spencer, who is credited with popularizing the term “alt-right,” says he has never called for violence and has not tweeted anything recently that might provoke a suspension.
He called the suspensions a coordinated attack against users with certain viewpoints.
While he acknowledged that Twitter is a company and has a right to do as it pleases, he says it also needs to accept that it has evolved into something bigger and needs to act accordingly.
“This is 2016 and we live in a digital world,” he said.
“Twitter is how the president releases press releases and it’s also how teenage girls talk about Justin Bieber,” he said.
“Twitter is not just some Web site,” he said. “It’s a public space and we have to treat it that way.”
Pax Dickinson, who was ousted as chief technology officer of the Web site Business Insider in 2013 after reportedly sending offensive tweets, says he also was not given a reason for his Twitter suspension.
However, he said it likely stemmed from a tweet he sent director Joss Whedon that included an anti-homosexual term.
Dickinson said he has appealed the suspension, but has yet to hear back from Twitter.
Spencer said he does not plan on coming back to Twitter unless he gets an apology.
Online harassment has long been a problem for the Internet. Because Twitter allows most conversations to play out in public and allows for relative anonymity, it has been especially visible there. And it is especially challenging, because Twitter harassment often resembles online mob action, with numerous pseudonymous accounts ganging up to tweet vile messages at particular individuals.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese