Twitter faced heavy backlash for suspending the account of conservative commentator Dave Rubin for defending Canadian psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Jordan Peterson, who was suspended from Twitter over a tweet criticizing “pride” while using Hollywood star Ellen Page’s original name, and calling the surgeon who operated on Page a “criminal.”
In response to Twitter’s removal of Peterson over his tweet last week, Rubin Report host and free speech advocate Dave Rubin — who boasts over 1.3 million followers on the platform — criticized the “insanity” that “continues at Twitter.”
Despite the ban on Peterson, the popular psychologist maintained he was unwilling to capitulate to “woke authoritarian moralists” and would “rather die” than delete his tweet.
However, later, Rubin’s tweet, too, was removed and his account suspended.
In a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday, Rubin wrote, “I have been suspended by Twitter for posting a screenshot of Jordan Peterson’s tweet which got he himself suspended.”
“While it is unclear how I broke their terms of service,” he continued, “it is clear they are breaking their fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders by letting a bunch of Woke activists run the company.”
In addition, Rubin expressed his hope that billionaire Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase succeeds “so he can blow up their servers and humanity can move past this pervasive, twisted, self-imposed mental institution.”
“In the meantime, you can find me at rubinreport.locals.com, the platform I created to fight big tech censorship…something we need now more than ever.”
In response to Rubin’s suspension, many took to Twitter to blast the social media giant.
“@RubinReport was suspended on twitter for defending @jordanbpeterson right to free speech? Blatant cherry-picking, considering the cesspool of commentary I see on twitter every day,” wrote Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX).
“I am defending the free speech of both Dave Rubin and Jordan Peterson,” he added. “Gonna ban me too now?”
“Good! @jordanbpeterson and @RubinReport should not succumb to Twitter censorship by deleting any Tweet,” wrote Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY).
“Twitter must provide a fair review framework BEFORE any account is ever suspended to ensure due process and to protect free speech,” she added.
“I’m just now seeing that my friend @RubinReport got suspended. For nothing. This site really is turning into a fucking joke,” wrote television host and author Jedediah Bila.
“Hey, could you reach out to your Twitter people and tell them suspending @RubinReport for reporting a news story they decided was unacceptable is stupid, and to stop it?” wrote conservative writer and commentator Chad Felix Greene in a message to Elon Musk.
“DAVE RUBIN DID NOTHING WRONG!” declared author Ashley St. Clair.
“So @RubinReport has been suspended from Twitter for commenting on @jordanbpeterson being suspended from Twitter,” wrote bestselling author Douglas Murray.
“Does @Twitter intend to have a future?” he added. “Also, could it explain whether Elliot was ever Ellen? Or Caitlyn was ever Bruce?”
“Peterson was referencing sex and the left’s attack on objective reality. And he was suspended for doing so. Dave Rubin was then suspended for discussing Peterson’s suspension,” wrote Erielle Davidson, senior policy analyst at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, who described the move as “Orwellian nonsense.”
“What if @RubinReport identifies as someone from a couple of years ago and that’s the only name he knows her by?” quipped radio host Derek Hunter.
“@RubinReport, who follows every rule and is an absolute class act was suspended for tweeting about Peterson’s improper suspension,” wrote conservative commentator John Cardillo.
“The thought police demand absolute loyalty,” he added.
“@RubinReport suspended by twitter for posting about what suspended Jordan Peterson,” wrote columnist Karol Markowicz.
“Absurd and idiotic,” she added.
Rubin later said he deleted the tweet in order to receive his private message access in order to get the word out over his suspension.
Last month, the mega-viral Twitter account Libs of TikTok was censored by Twitter for exposing the disturbing trend of far-left activists exposing children to sexually explicit performances by drag queens.
In April, Tesla CEO Elon Musk called out Twitter’s top lawyer Vijaya Gadde, who heads content moderation, for her censorship policies within the company, expressing his misgivings about Twitter’s past practices when he openly criticized Gadde over a report that she spearheaded the effort to have the Hunter Biden laptop story banned.
“Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organization for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate,” tweeted Musk.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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