Twitter locked the accounts of two journalists in Canada Friday after they attempted to live-tweet the proceedings of transgender radical Jonathan “Jessica” Yaniv, who is on trial for illegal possession of a weapon.
A source familiar with the situation said the accounts had been locked for violating the Twitter Rules, although neither suspension is currently permanent.
When reached for comment, Twitter did not specify precisely what rules had been violated or how.
“Twitter suspended our reporter [Keean Bextie] five times for live-tweeting from the court where accused criminal Yaniv is on trial,” reported Rebel Media founder Ezra Levant.
Levant also noted that Anna Slatz, a reporter for The Post Millennial, was also suspended for tweeting about Keean’s suspension. The Post Millennial and Rebel Media have both closely followed the Yaniv trial.
In a message to Breitbart News, Levant said that Slatz did not engage in “deadnaming” — the use of a transgender person’s birth name — or “misgendering” — referring to a transgender person by their biological gender.
Twitter has permanently suspended accounts using the above behaviors as an excuse before, notably in the cases of Canadian feminist Meghan Murphy and free speech activist Lindsay Shepherd.
“Yaniv’s legal name is still Jonathan; his own mother calls him ‘him,'” said Levant. “The court case uses the name ‘Jessica Jonathan Yaniv.’ But in any event, why was Anna suspended — she didn’t ‘misgender’ or ‘deadname.'”
Yaniv has attracted increased controversy and attention over the past two years, including for attempting to sue Canadian beauty parlors for their refusal to offer testicle-waxing services. Yaniv lost these cases.
Note: an earlier version of this article implied that Post Millennial reporter Anna Slatz is a conservative, which she is not. The article has been updated to reflect this.
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Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News.
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