BREAKING: Andy Ngo, TPM, prominent conservatives locked out of Twitter after reporting on ‘trans day of vengeance’
“Reporting on a violent extremist event is not the same as inciting violence.”
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“Reporting on a violent extremist event is not the same as inciting violence.”
The Post Millennial, along with Senior Editor Andy Ngo, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Brandon Straka, and others were locked out of Twitter on Tuesday for reporting on the Trans Day of Vengeance, which Antifa and trans groups are organizing for April 1 in Washington, DC. The account that called for violence is still active on the site.
The Post Millennial deleted the offending tweet, which contained reporting on the event.
https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1640797955384025089?s=20
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was locked out for 7 days.
https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1640815737416695808?s=20
And Brandon Straka was locked out for noting the day as well.
https://twitter.com/realwalkaway/status/1640778838941507595?s=46&t=nkMbASVQyIa0U0wxgglzrg
"We had to automatically sweep our platform and remove >5000 tweets /retweets of this poster. We do not support tweets that incite violence irrespective of who posts them. 'Vengeance' does not imply peaceful protest. Organizing or support for peaceful protests is ok," Ella Irwin, Twitter Head of Trust and Safety said.
https://twitter.com/ellagirwin/status/1640753404866871296?s=20
"Reporting on a violent extremist event is not the same as inciting violence," Ngo said. "I've been locked out while the organizers and promoters of the event, Our Rights DC, is still on Twitter."
"The entire premise of the radical trans lobby’s event on April 1st, 'The Trans Day of Vengeance hinges on the false belief that the gender ideologue movement has no power," Brandon Straka told The Post Millennial. "And yet these people were able to shut down some of the largest voices in the conservative movement who dared to criticize them."
Ngo, who has been reporting on Antifa and their violence for years, shared information about the upcoming Trans Day of Vengeance, which caught him the lockout. "In recent months," he wrote, "rhetoric about carrying our 'revenge' & 'vengeance' on society for some states restricting the medical transitioning of minors has surged.
"Through my reporting on Antifa, I've long observed that disproportionate numbers of violent Antifa members are trans. Still, their rhetoric has become more openly violent recently as they feel emboldened by Democrats & the mainstream left."
An additional tweet from Ngo was also cited for removal by Twitter. This one spoke directly about the Trans Day of Vengeance, saying "The Antifa group organizing the 'Trans Day of Vengeance' outside the Supreme Court has locked down its Twitter account following the deadly mass shooting on a Christian school in Nashville by a trans shooter."
That tweet referenced Our Rights DC, which is organizing the day of vengeance, and whose Twitter account remains intact.
Ngo later received an email specifying the violation, from Twitter support. That email read:
"Your account has been locked for violating Twitter Rules. Specifically, for: Violating our rules against Violent Speech Policy."
Once again, Twitter has made an equivalency between reporting on calls for violence and the calls for violence themselves. There is, of course, a journalistic imperative to report on groups that call for violence to support their ideology, in this case, gender ideology. Reporting on an expectation of violence and declaring that violence is what should happen is not remotely the same thing.
Reporting on threats of violence is in the public interest. Calling for violence is to the public's detriment.
"You may not threaten, incite, glorify or express desire for violence or harm," Twitter support continued. "Twitter is a place where people can express themselves, learn about what's happening, and debate global issues. However, healthy conversations can't thrive when violent speech is used to deliver a message. We may take these actions on any tweet that violates the Twitter Rules, including tweets that share or reproduce other tweets by posting screenshots, quote-tweeting, or sharing Tweet URLs that violate the Twitter Rules." And the account was locked.
Our Rights DC, which is calling for a day of vengeance on behalf of trans people, has protected their tweets, but they are still very much on the platform.
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This is not the first time Ngo has been locked out of his account for reporting on calls for violence, and it's more than likely that those who reported his tweets as objectionable are the same accounts, or supporters of those accounts, that are literally calling for violence in the first place.
In February, Ngo was locked out of his account for saying a tweet saying "#Antifa in Eugene, Ore. have announced plans to attack a @TPUSA campus event today featuring black speakers @Stephend176 & @AWatsonOLY. Antifa tell their members to wear black uniforms & masks (bloc), & to assault their targets. cc: @ellagirwin." Irwin is the current head of Twitter Trust and Safety.
Twitter is being fooled by the very same accounts they should be trying to suppress. Instead of blocking those who are demanding violence in service to their own ideological bent, they are suppressing those who shine a light on that violence.
