**UPDATE** Following tremendous backlash, Milo Yiannopoulos’ Twitter account has been restored.
Original story:
Conservative commentator and Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos has been suspended from Twitter ahead of a planned press conference in Orlando, Florida.
The timing of this suspension cannot be ignored. Yiannopoulos was planning to give a press conference today near the Pulse dance club in Orlando, the target of a deadly Muslim terrorist attack that left over 100 dead or wounded. The event is still scheduled to take place, outside the Christ Church Of Orlando at 2pm EDT. Full details for those wishing to attend can be found at the bottom of this article.
It comes as a number of other figures, great and small, have been censored on social media for being too outspoken about the threat of Islam in the wake of the shootings. Islam critic Pamela Geller was suspended on Facebook. A games developer who called for the surveillance of radical mosques was suspended on Twitter. Masses of users discussing the shooting were censored on Reddit. Jim Hoft, aka “The Gateway Pundit,” another gay conservative activists who recently called on LGBT people to acknowledge the homophobia of Islam and “come home to the Republican party,” was suspended on YouTube.
And now Milo Yiannopoulos has been censored on Twitter. The pattern is clear.
“America has to make a very simple choice here. This is not a question of fine distinctions politicians and our media make between Islam and radical Islamist terrorists, really it’s all the same thing, there is a structural problem with Islam, most of them don’t like gays very much. This isn’t news to anyone except our media.” said Milo yesterday on the Todd Shapiro show. Perhaps it is Milos outspoken opinion on this subject that has had him removed from Twitters already restrictive platform.
It is not yet entirely clear why Milo has been suspended but it is unsurprising that this has happened mere days after Milo tweeted his condemnation of Islamic culture and it’s opinions of homosexuals. Yiannopoulos has been highly outspoken in his condemnation of Islam following the Orlando attacks, and recently wrote a viral article slamming the left for “choosing Islam over gays.”
This is not the first time that Yiannopoulos has been targeted by Twitter staff. Many of our readers will remember the saga that was Milo losing his verification check mark earlier this year. Twitter has a history of punishing those that hold conservative views on its platform, mainly through the process of “shadowbanning” – hiding conservative views from users Twitter timelines – Milo himself has previously reported on.
Those wishing to attend Milo’s press conference in Orlando, Florida today gather outside Christ Church of Orlando, at 2200 South Orange Avenue at 2pm EDT. All members of the public and press are welcome to attend, and should contact tim@yiannopoulos.net with further questions.
Yiannopoulos will take questions from attending media and listeners, expected to include the New York Times, local television stations, Deutsche Welle, PBS and various student publications.
The Breitbart team will be accompanied by private security, for the safety of media and the attending public.
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