On Monday, Twitter began suspending accounts according to its updated terms of service in what quickly became known as the “Twitter purge.”
The much talked about “Twitter purge” happens at 9am ET. This is going to be interesting.
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) December 18, 2017
The first account people noticed suspended was Jayda Fransen‘s, the deputy leader of Britain First, a far-right ultra-nationalist group that gained notoriety in the United States after President Donald Trump retweeted several anti-Muslim videos she posted.
However, the number of accounts suspended reached far beyond Fransen. Several white nationalists were also suspended on Monday. The new rules are aimed at accounts that push hateful messaging or make threats based on race, ethnicity, sexual identity or other factors.
The changes were announced last month, but on Monday the company started enforcing the new rules. They now cover: “violence and physical harm,” and users who have “hateful imagery” or who have profiles that include “violent threat[s] or multiple slurs, epithets, racist or sexist tropes, incites fear, or reduces someone to less than human,” the company said in a blog post.
Perhaps the most prominent right-wing figure suspended was Jared Taylor, who ran a site called the American Renaissance, which is considered a white supremacy site.
In a post on his site, Taylor said he never violated any rules.
In a blog posted today, Twitter said it has begun enforcing new rules against “hateful and abusive content,” American Renaissance and Jared Taylor violate none of those rules. Anyone familiar with our work recognizes that we present our dissident political views with civility. We have never even hinted at anything that could be seen as condoning violence or illegality, nor do we associate with those who do.
The “purge” has led many right-wing users suspecting they are being targeted or having their “free speech” threatened.
https://twitter.com/MattsOurSemite/status/942784702985003008
https://twitter.com/AwokenDaddy/status/942795771211956224
Man Twitter better not kill all my favorite accounts… Free speech is our rights as an American!!!
— Damon Doafer Thompson (@DoaferThompson) December 18, 2017
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🔫🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸#Twitterpurge #TwitterHatesWhitePeople #Twitterati#TwitterCensorship https://t.co/QUKNj4CV3n
https://twitter.com/coachgtpage/status/942795644695035904
https://twitter.com/NotaTypicalTory/status/942786090917859328
https://twitter.com/bosswizard1984/status/942786352122417152
https://twitter.com/realmarcuscross/status/942790041083953152
https://twitter.com/GenAugustoP/status/942805047108427777
Unless you are a Liberal looney… pic.twitter.com/TkCLmrnguw
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) December 18, 2017
As of now, I don't see any systematic method to the #TwitterPurge. I've lost more than a hundred followers in 24 hrs, but lots of pro-White accounts, even shit-lordy ones, remain. @jartaylor got purged, but not @Steve_Sailer, @vdare, @TOOEdit , et al. Haphazard.
— Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) December 18, 2017
When pressed by Taylor about the suspension, Twitter responded to say that his account “will not be restored.”