Twitter has suspended Milo Yiannopoulos following a series of tweets the alt-right commentator posted to Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones, with the site stating that the journalist had violated its “hateful conduct policy.”
Milo, who has garnered a steadily increasing amount of support online over the past couple of years as a result of his affiliation with GamerGate, his vocal championing of alt-right politics and his support for presidential candidate Donald Trump, posted a negative review of the latest Ghostbusters movie on conservative site Breitbart. However, it was his actions on Twitter following the posting of this review that would ultimately lead to his “permanent suspension” on the platform.
Jones received a torrent of racist abuse earlier this week, with her sharing the obscene messages she had received on the site with her followers. Milo was among those messaging her, with him sharing a doctored image of a tweet in order to make it appear as though Jones had been sending out her own racist messages on the site. One of the images shared by Milo included the phrase “bix nood,” a reference to an incredibly racist cartoon that includes a caption claiming black people “can’t speak anything but unintelligible gibberish.”
Here’s a screenshot of Milo’s tweet:
And here’s the abhorrent cartoon it references.
Following Jones’ vocal condemnation of Twitter’s slow approach to dealing with the abuse she had received, the site’s CEO Jack Dorsey sent her a tweet requesting a private conversation. Twitter’s moderators then worked towards banning the accounts that Jones had flagged, including Milo’s.
Discussing his suspension on Facebook, Milo wrote: “Twitter just declared war on free speech — and, in the process, signed its own death warrant. The message to libertarians, conservatives and anyone who loves mischief, irreverence and fun is clear. You’re not welcome any more.”
Milo continuously downplays his behavior as little more than examples of him being “mischievous” or a “provocateur,” with his multitude of terrifyingly sycophantic supporters now coming to his defense in order to peddle the narrative that he has been suspended for simply posting a critical review of a film, and that he shouldn’t be held responsible for the actions of others on the site. However, this argument is thoroughly undermined by the above racist tweet that Milo had directed towards the actress, which is being blissfully/intentionally overlooked by those currently fighting for his account to be reinstated on the site.
Twitter hasn’t “declared war on free speech,” but rather they have rightly decided that they don’t want their social network to be a platform for bigotry and the targeted abuse and harassment of its users. An individual’s right to free speech does not allow them to be exempt from the consequences they may face as a result of their words, regardless of how large their following may be.
