Twitter has begun its long-anticipated purge of right-wing and far-right accounts, under the guise of cracking down on “violent extremism.” Meanwhile, far-left accounts connected to real-world violence remain active on the platform.
So far, the Twitter purge includes multiple accounts connected to the alt-right and “race realism,” including Jared Taylor and the account of white advocacy magazine American Rennaissance. The publisher of the alt-right magazine Occidental Dissent also received a ban.
Also banned was the deputy leader of Britain First, Jayda Fransen, who was retweeted by President Trump last month.
Proud Boy Magazine, the account of the pro-western fraternal organization founded by CRTV honest Gavin McInnes, was also kicked off Twitter.
Also purged was the European identitarian group Generation Identity, and the English Defence League, an anti-Islamization group founded by Rebel Media contributor Tommy Robinson.
Twitter says that they are targeting their bans against groups and individuals that are connected to “violent extremism” and organizations that “use or promote violence against civilians to further their cause.” Twitter announced last month they are will now monitor and sanction users for behavior that does not take place on their platform, including offline behavior.
American Renaissance rejects claims that they support or advocate violence.
“These bans prove that the purge is politically motivated. We were careful to follow the Terms of Service – even the new ones” said Henry Wolff, assistant editor of American Rennaissance. “We had no involvement in Charlottesville or any other activism, for that matter. We’ve never supported violence or those who do.”
Pawl Bazile of Proud Boy Magazine said that his group is not even affiliated with the alt-right.
“The Proud Boys are a pro-western fraternal organization founded by Gavin McInnes of CRTV” said Bazile. “We are not alt-right and have taken a hard stance against racism (and identity politics in general). We are libertarian/conservative and apparently, this was all it took to get suspended from Twitter out of the blue.”
In November, Roger Stone’s “Stone Cold Truth” account, right-wing commentator and sci-fi author Vox Day, and Sam Hyde’s comedy group Million Dollar Extreme were all permanently suspended from the platform, while anti-Islam commentator Tommy Robinson and journalist Laura Loomer were stripped of their verification badges.
Roger Stone’s personal account was also suspended from the platform in October after he insulted CNN anchors, and in September, Twitter suspended two popular right-wing transgender commentators, Theryn Meyer and Michelle Catlin.
Meanwhile, far-left groups that are tied to violent activism remain on the platform. It’s Going Down, the premier news site of the violent “Antifa” movement still have their Twitter account, despite openly advocating vandalism and violence against the police.
One article on IGD’s site describes the act of throwing rocks and bottles at the police as “basic self-defense.” Another article (now-deleted) bragged about sabotaging train tracks to prevent fracking equipment from reaching its destination.
By Any Means Necessary, the group responsible for numerous acts of political violence in California, also retains their Twitter account, as does their leader, Yvette Felarca, who went on TV to defend violent protests, and is currently facing criminal charges of assault and causing a riot.
Felcara has been caught on camera engaging in violence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou_XUHgnNNI&has_verified=1
You can follow Allum Bokhari on Twitter, Gab.ai, and add him on Facebook. Email him securely at allumbokhari@protonmail.com.
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