British journalist Milo Yiannopoulos, a.k.a. @Nero, lost his verification badge. One of your engineers had previously reported Yiannopoulos for tweeting and teasing debate opponents on Twitter. Robert McCain, a conservative author and journalist, has been on a critique of feminism beat for the past two years. He was banned in August 2015 for writing about an alleged pedophile who happened to be transgendered.
Late last week, without notice and without a specific cause, Twitter banned his personal @rsmccain account and his @SexBookTrouble book promotion account. Actor Adam Baldwin took notice and now the prolificHollywood tweeter has left the platform for good. Baldwin had beenpunished previously too.
Each of these men is a political conservative who believes in the equality of the sexes, but then again, why should their beliefs determine their access to Twitter’s full suite of features?
What fringe or popular ideas are to become orthodoxy so that we may participate fully on Twitter?
A listing of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council members reads like a buffet of New York interest and lobbying groups. There’s no trust in the Council, nor is there a transparent outline of how they’re working or governing over all of us—the users. Today it was dubbed an “Orwellian nightmare”in The Week.
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I will gather petitioners at PublicStatus.org in the meantime. Others will be clicking this link to tweet you.