Actor James Woods is refusing an ultimatum from Twitter asking he delete a satirical meme, or stay in Twitter jail.
Speaking to the Associated Press Sunday, Woods indicated he would not delete his tweet from July 20, a step required in order to lift his Twitter suspension, because it would force him to self-censure his thoughts on the platform in the future.
“Free speech is free speech — it’s not Jack Dorsey’s version of free speech,” Woods told the AP, referring to the company’s CEO.
Woods, who has over 1.73 million followers on Twitter, pointed out to the AP Twitter’s hypocrisy in claiming he’s affecting the election, when his account being banned should also be viewed as a form of election meddling.
“The irony is, Twitter accused me of affecting the political process, when in fact, their banning of me is the truly egregious interference,” Woods said, according to the AP. “Because now, having your voice smothered is much more disturbing than having your vocal chords slit. If you want to kill my free speech, man up and slit my throat with a knife, don’t smother me with a pillow.”
Woods’ account was suspended last week after Twitter flagged a months-old tweet showing an image the company claims contained “text and imagery that has the potential to be misleading in a way that could impact an election.”
This is the tweet @RealJamesWoods was locked for.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the “Streisand Effect” kicked in and it was retweeted 10,000 times?
Retweet at your peril. @jack is watching… 👀#FREEJAMESWOODS pic.twitter.com/eIZpGkOk6A
— Sara Miller (@Millerita) September 21, 2018
The meme showed three men wearing “soy smiles” jokingly urging Democrat males to stay home in order to make women’s votes count for more.
“We’re making a Woman’s Vote Worth more by staying home,” text on the meme said, including the hashtags #LetWomenDecide and #NoMenMidterms.
Woods had commented on Alex Jones’ widespread social media ban earlier this month, commenting that while he wasn’t familiar with Infowars, he believed the ban was a “slippery slope.”
I’ve never read Alex Jones nor watched any of his video presence on the internet. A friend told me he was an extremist. Believe me that I know nothing about him. That said, I think banning him from the internet is a slippery slope. This is the beginning of real fascism. Trust me.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 9, 2018
Donald Trump Jr. on Monday sounded off on Woods’ suspension, asserting the meme was harmless and claiming the Twitter ban was emblematic of the wider suppression of Conservative voices.
There’s literally nothing wrong with this @RealJamesWoods meme other than @Twitter using it as an excuse to silence a strong conservative voice. The bias continues! https://t.co/7tnZtaN4dr
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 24, 2018
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