Twitter banned a well-known Twitter account called @DefiantLs Tuesday evening, which posted screenshots pointing out left-wing hypocrisy.
The owner of the account, who has always been anonymous and remains so, said the account was banned for an alleged “ban evasion,” despite the fact that the account owner says he or she has “never had an account suspended so I’ve never had a ban to evade.”
Twitter faced backlash from high-profile critics, many who saw the ban as political retribution for the account’s right-wing leanings.
“Is pointing out liberal hypocrisy a violation of @twitter rules?” Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said.
Is pointing out liberal hypocrisy a violation of @twitter rules?
Well lets find out #DefiantLs @DefiantLs pic.twitter.com/KljHyujfHs
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 16, 2022
“The highly popular, well-researched and entertaining @DefiantLs Twitter account never did anything – literally – but juxtapose a person’s past tweet to their current one in order to show hypocrisy. But since most of its targets were liberals, Twitter just banned the account,” journalist Glenn Greenwald said.
The highly popular, well-researched and entertaining @DefiantLs Twitter account never did anything — literally — but juxtapose a person's past tweet to their current one in order to show hypocrisy. But since most of its targets were liberals, Twitter just banned the account. https://t.co/S7JCLJMfzl
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 16, 2022
“So let me get this straight… @DefiantLs merely posted screenshots — SCREENSHOTS — of liberal hypocrisy on Twitter (their own words!), and he is suspended from Twitter. What is going on @Twitter?” said Kayleigh McEnany, a press secretary to former President Donald Trump.
So let me get this straight… @DefiantLs merely posted screenshots — SCREENSHOTS — of liberal hypocrisy on Twitter (their own words!), and he is suspended from Twitter.
What is going on @Twitter?
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) February 16, 2022
“Twitter has suspended the @DefiantLs account which exists merely to illustrate liberal hypocrisy on @twitter. This is beyond absurd,” radio show host and founder of Outkick Clay Travis said.
Twitter has suspended the @DefiantLs account which exists merely to illustrate liberal hypocrisy on @twitter. This is beyond absurd. pic.twitter.com/AQyX0eZ95g
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 16, 2022
Scores of other high-profile commentators joined the chorus, questioning Twitter’s motives.
After the backlash, Twitter appears to have reinstated the account.
“IM.BACK.,” the account said, posting a screenshot from Twitter saying “We’ve unsuspended your account.”
IM. BACK. pic.twitter.com/drII9lTcLA
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) February 16, 2022
Twitter did not return a comment request.
The company has been marred by controversy over its bans of popular right-wing accounts.
In previous years, the company had only banned conservative commentators like Milo Yiannopoulos, Gavin McInnes, Laura Loomer and others.
But over the past year, it has taken action to censor right-wing elected officials, too.
Most notably, it banned Trump’s account before his presidency ended.
It also recently banned the personal account of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) after claiming that the congresswoman was spreading “COVID-19 disinformation.”
The GOP has often discussed finding a solution to Big Tech’s censorship of conservative voices.
For example, the Republican National Committee has an active petition encouraging Americans to pledge their support to fighting against online censorship.
So far, there has been little action taken at a legislative or executive level to end the practice of censorship, and Silicon Valley titans of industry remain free to ban whomever they wish.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
