Twitter bans Joe Biden’s critics—including journalists

The Post Millennial contributor and reporter Anna Slatz was among thousands of users suspended for sharing an image meme that mocked Biden. The ad, which was widely shared by numerous high-profile accounts from across the political aisle—from shoe0nhead on the left, to Mindy Robinson on the right, reads: “His brain? No, his heart.” Those sharing the image wondered, some genuinely, if the ad was in fact real. It wasn’t produced by the Biden campaign, but it certainly looked real enough. Either way, Twitter (and presumably the Biden campaign) didn’t much like this ad and banned users for sharing it.

In a series of emails sent to Slatz, Twitter informed the writer that the image violated the platform’s “Election Integrity Policy.” Slatz had her account locked for posting the picture and remains unable to unlock it despite deleting the offending tweet.

April 26, 2020

Slatz told The Post Millennial that Twitter prompts her to delete the now nonexistent tweet, and has provided her no recourse to appeal the ban. Unable to send an appeal or delete the tweet, Slatz, like thousands of other users, is locked an infinite loop and unable to access her account or even her direct messages.

In a response to Slatz, Twitter Canada’s head of communications Cam Gordon relayed a response from a Twitter spokesperson who said: “Our enforcement team determined that Tweets featuring the graphic violate our Election Integrity Policy. They’re taking appropriate steps to enforce our policy across the service.”

“Take care,” he added.

Indeed, while it’s well within Twitter’s purview to enforce its rules, the fact remains that users hit by locks and suspensions are unable to submit an appeal or even remedy their actions as their accounts remain in a state of limbo. Furthermore, one might ask why Twitter has taken it upon itself to become the speech enforcement arm for the Biden presidential campaign and not any other candidate—or if it should even be acting in an editorial capacity by limiting the speech of Biden’s critics and detractors.