ONE OF TWITTER’S most contentious high-profile members, right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos, has been banned from the site.
The move came shortly after Leslie Jones, one of the stars of Ghostbusters, revealed she had been sent a barrage of offensive tweets.
Twitter did not directly name Jones in its contact with Yiannopoulos or its press statement.
Yiannopoulos, who tweeted under the name @Nero, had written a negative review of the Ghostbusters film. He also responded to Jones’ tweets by saying: “If at first you don’t succeed (because your work is terrible), play the victim”.
Jones had said in a tweet she was reporting @Nero to Twitter.
Yiannopoulos, a Trump supporter, was known for his right-wing conservative opinions, including describing feminism as a ‘cancer’.
Previous to this permanent banning, Twitter had suspended him on another occasion and revoked his verified status (the blue tick on his account).
Buzzfeed reports that in a statement, Twitter said that people “should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs on Twitter. But no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online”.
It said that at Twitter they “know many people believe we have not done enough to curb this type of behaviour… We agree.”
The site is continuing to invest in improving its tools and enforcement systems “to better allow us to identify and take faster action on abuse as it’s happening and prevent repeat offenders”.
Followers of Yiannopoulos have accused Twitter of silencing him, and the hashtag #FreeMilo has been trending on the site.
Yiannopoulos said on Breitbart that the suspension was “cowardly”:
Like all acts of the totalitarian regressive left, this will blow up in their faces, netting me more adoring fans. We’re winning the culture war, and Twitter just shot themselves in the foot.
This is the end for Twitter. Anyone who cares about free speech has been sent a clear message: you’re not welcome on Twitter.
Twitter sent Yiannopoulos an email to let him know his account was being permanently suspended, saying the move was due to “repeated violations of the Twitter rules… specifically our rules prohibiting participating in or inciting targeted abuse of individuals”.
It said that because he had received repeated warnings for similar violations, his account will not be restored.
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