Twitter Says I'm Hateful

For the last four days, I was blocked from Twitter, which is probably a good thing, because I know damn well that I spend waaaay too much time on it. The reason? I violated Twitter's rules against hateful conduct:

"You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease."

It was a reply to a reply in a thread started by super mega author Stephen King (@stephenking) who also happens to be an outspoken liberal with 4.3 million followers. 

Here's the sequence of tweets in context.

"I'm wondering if Alabama voters will elect a man they'd horsewhip, if they caught him messing with their own daughters" @stephenking

"But Roy is anti-abortion." Yes, fetuses have a right to life, so you can rape them once they hit junior high." @HowardA_Esq

And me:

"Their attitude is 'Life is sacred' right up until the baby is born then it's "Don't expect any help from us. You made your bed now lie in it, you lazy slut. We told you this would happen in abstinence education." @Judy5cents 

I have posted this sentiment before on Facebook and Twitter, and I don't see how I'm promoting violence or threatening people. I suppose the "lazy slut" was what did it, but it's not directed at any specific person--it's a hypothetical conversation between a Right to Lifer and the teen aged mother who can't get help to raise the child they said was so precious. 

All I had to do to get back on was to verify my identity, delete the offending tweet and wait out my 12 hour suspension. Pretty much like a middle schooler being forced to say "I'm sorry for what I said" and serve a modest detention. 

I wasn't having any of it. I was mad and hell and I was determined Twitter wasn't going to push me around. I appealed the decision, saying the tweet was meant to be sarcastic, and asking what exactly was it about that tweet that promoted violence or threatened or harassed any person or group. 

This was their answer:

"We’re writing to let you know that your account features will remain locked or limited for the allotted time due to violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically our hateful conduct policy.

We do not allow people to promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease.

Please note that continued abusive behavior may lead to the suspension of your account. To avoid having your account suspended, please only post content that abides by the Twitter Rules: https://twitter.com/rules.

You can learn more about our policy against hateful conduct here: https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175050.

Thanks,

Twitter"

Basically, it was a form letter. I'm sure they send out this letter to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to Twitter users every day. I was holding out for a real person, who I contacted on my other account and that's just not going to happen.

A Facebook friend of mine referred me to an article on Media Matters about how far right trolls are using this rule to temporarily silence progressives on Twitter. They report tweets out of context (like mine) and get the accounts suspended and boast about it.  "If you're still on Twitter and aren't reporting 20-30 people a day to cause chaos, you're doing it wrong." (Andrew Torba, founder of Gab, a social media platform resembling Twitter which has been dubbed a haven for White Nationalists)

Usually the suspensions last for 12 hours, but because I was so damn stubborn, they had me offline for four days. 

And that is what convinced me to go back on. By refusing to delete that tweet and get back online, I let the trolls win.

I'm still mad as hell at Twitter but I don't see any way that I'm not going to take it any more aside from leaving all together. As I expected, Twitter didn't notice I was gone. I have to admit, its Siren's song has worn thin now that I've been dashed against the rocks. I expect I won't be on Twitter as much now that I've been burned by it. 

Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to  tweet us toward a nuclear war and posts anti-Muslim videos.  But for four days Twitter was safe from the likes of me. 

And I was safe from Twitter.