Two months after the censorship of Donald Trump’s Twitter account, it is that of James O’Keefe, CEO of the ultra-conservative group Project Veritas, who is banned from the social network. The platform explains this act by the violation by the account “of the rules regarding manipulation of the platform and spam”. The concerned promises to file a complaint.
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Twitter has just suspended the account of ultra-conservative activist James O’Keefe, founder of Project Veritas, described as investigative media and known for his pro-Trump views. According to the company, he is “breaking the rules of Twitter.” A representative of the company, contacted by the news site The Hill, explains that the account in question was closed for “violation of the rules regarding manipulation of the platform and spam”.
“The account […] has been permanently suspended for violating Twitter rules on platform manipulation and spam, ”he told the online media.
In his explanation, the representative of the company refers more concretely to the following rules, moreover beautiful and well explained on the platform website: “You cannot mislead other Twitter users by using fake accounts”, “You cannot artificially amplify or disrupt conversations by using multiple accounts”.
The reaction
For James O’Keefe, such a statement from the social network is “defamation”. In a press release published on the site of the organization, the man announces his intention to file a complaint against the digital giant.
“I’m suing Twitter for defamation because they said I, James O’Keefe, ‘run fake accounts.’ It’s wrong, it’s defamatory, and they will pay […]. The complaint will be filed on Monday, ”he said. The press release also indicates that the account was suspended as it approached the symbolic threshold of one million subscribers.
It should be noted that Twitter already closed Mr O’Keefe’s “child” account, Project Veritas, last February. According to the organization’s website, James O’Keefe started Project Veritas in 2011 as a non-profit journalism company. His goal was to continue his “undercover reporting” work. Twitter suspended the account as part of its rule against sharing or threatening to share private information without consent.
Twitter et Trump
Following the takeover of the Capitol by Trump supporters in early January, the microblogging platform permanently suspended the account of former US President Donald Trump. The social network justified its choice by a risk of “new incitement to violence”.
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