Long-Anticipated Twitter Purge Nets Large Fish and Small Alike
Social media’s worst kept secret is going according to plan. The long-anticipated December 18 Twitter purge arrived yesterday, resulting in several high-profile account bans. In a blow to the political right in England, leaders of UK political Party Britain First were among the first to fall under Twitter’s dragnet.
So what was this “Twitter purge” all about, anyway? In case you missed it, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) announced new rules in November which would tighten restrictions on abuse, threats of violence, and “hate speech.” The rules were enacted on December 18, 2017. While theoretically the rules should apply to all corners of the political spectrum, the conserve-right and “alt-right” felt they would be particularly targeted, given Silicon Valley’s left-of-center proclivities. Apparently, those predictions were accurate.
Among the first casualties (perhaps related to time zone differences) were the accounts of Britain First leader Paul Golding and deputy leader Jayda Fransen. Both messaged out that they could no longer tweet and that past posts no longer appeared. Adding insult to injury, Britain First announced its official Twitter page has suffered the same fate. (Source: “Twitter suspends Britain First leaders,” BBC, December 18, 2017.)
Britain First recently gained notoriety when President Donald Trump retweeted a series of Muslim-critical videos emanating from Jayda Fransen’s Twitter account.
This is a significant blow to Britain First, which had been experiencing tremendous growth in recent times. The party had nearly two million followers on Facebook as of October 2017, despite the fact it was only founded in 2011. (Source: “After failing to take over UKIP, the far right is at bay,” The Economist, October 5, 2017.)
But forcing two million-plus followers to scatter, Twitter effectively set back the party an indefinite period of time. Given that Britain First is a grassroots organization, reliance on social media channels is particularly important.
Now that it’s been disrupted, the party faces an uphill battle. There are no big-pocketed donors or government officials helping Britain First reorganize. They must not only build their online following back up, but also find a suitable venue; not an easy task when progressive gatekeepers like Facebook, Inc. (NYSE:FB) and Twitter are constantly looking to shut you out.
High Profile U.S. Suspensions
Demonstrating that Twitter doesn’t discriminate geographically, several popular right-wing American accounts also suffered the same wrath. To Twitter’s credit, most appear to be genuinely repugnant “alt-right” type groups as opposed to conservatives. Still, it remains to seen whether Twitter’s enforcement of the rules doesn’t get more progressive over time.
Below is a list of significant account suspensions affecting far-right accounts in the U.S. (as of December 18):
| Person / Organization | Description |
| Jared Taylor, Head of American Resistance | Alt-right web site which champions ethnic inequality |
| The American Nazi Party | Self-evident |
| Nordic Resistance Movement | Ethno-centric Scandanavian group resisting societal diversification |
| The Traditionalist Workers Party | Alt-right group which champions ethnic inequality |
| End Time Paradigm | An account that specialised in anti-Semitic content |
| League of the South | Alt-right |
Expect many casualties in the coming days. Conservatives have no problem with culling some of the more questionable voices among their ranks. But censorship has a cost; it remains to be seen how many genuine conservatives get caught up in the Twitter purge’s wide net.
So far, it’s a fear that hasn’t come to pass.