Twitter has partially lifted a shadow ban on conservatives using its platform after Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz threatened to file an FEC complaint against the company.
Even far-left VICE admitted that conservatives were being censored in a report yesterday which observed, “The Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel, several conservative Republican congressmen, and Donald Trump Jr.’s spokesman no longer appear in the auto-populated drop-down search box on Twitter.”
The report went on to highlight how the policy served to diminish the reach of conservatives on the platform and how high profile liberals were not impacted by the shadow ban. Despite this, Twitter insisted that the problem had nothing to do with politics.
After Infowars launched a petition opposing shadow banning, Twitter announced that it would seek to fix the issue.
The final straw was almost certainly Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s threat to file a complaint with the FEC about the shadow banning of conservatives.
“I am contemplating a complaint with the FEC, because if my political opponents have better access to the Twitter platform than I do, that’s no different than a private company giving my political opponents access to a billboard or television time or radio time,” Gaetz said. “That wouldn’t be equal.”
“So I believe that Twitter may have illegally donated to the campaigns of my opponents by prejudicing against my content,” he added.
Gaetz noticed that the growth of his Twitter account immediately slowed after the algorithm change and a report concluded, “Democrats are not being ‘shadow banned’ in the same way” and that, “Not a single member of the 78-person Progressive Caucus faces the same situation in Twitter’s search.”
Conservative Twitter users began to notice today that their names are displaying properly when searched.
Looks like the shadowban has been mysteriously lifted! pic.twitter.com/bAoP3b3nz2
— Jack Posobiec❌ (@JackPosobiec) July 26, 2018
Can confirm I've been restored to the first result when I search my name. Thank you @jack for addressing this problem. pic.twitter.com/jRVmKr8Y2J
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) July 26, 2018
While it appears the shadow ban on search has been lifted, quality filtering that prevents some people’s tweets being seen by people who don’t follow them is still very much active.
Using the website ShadowBan.eu, journalist Alessandra Bocchi complained, “I’m still shadowbanned for no reason. I’ve never violated the terms of service, posted offensive or abusive material – I’m a reporter and I’ve been targeted for purely arbitrary reasons. This censorship will be held to account, one way or another.”
I'm still shadowbanned for no reason. I've never violated the terms of service, posted offensive or abusive material – I'm a reporter and I've been targeted for purely arbitrary reasons. This censorship will be held to account, one way or another. @jack @TwitterSupport pic.twitter.com/9F4651XT4u
— Alessandra Bocchi (@alessabocchi) July 25, 2018
Our petition on the issue has been partially successful. Now it’s time to step up the pressure and demand that Facebook and Google implement fair algorithm policies that forbid the downranking of content based on political biases.
CNN, BuzzFeed and others are also still intensively lobbying Google and Facebook to shut down Infowars altogether.
Sign the petition here if you have not done so already.
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:
Follow on Twitter: Follow @PrisonPlanet
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.watson.71
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com.
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