Twitter has once again banned a leftist humanitarian account that was aiming to shine a light on the horrors of the war in Yemen.
The account was banned last week — but Twitter quickly reinstated them, apologized, and claimed that there had not actually been any violation of the rules. Three days later, the account was locked for the same tweets that lead to them being banned in the first place.
The tweets that Twitter claims violate their rules took aim at the establishment Democrat organization the Center for American Progress, senators who support continued US involvement in Yemen, and Saudi Arabia.
The OpDesanitize account publishes graphic photos from war zones the US is involved in — mainly Yemen — in hopes of raising awareness of the brutality our foreign policy currently supports.
“Our lock has far reaching implications. Social media websites like Twitter are where most Americans get their news. As such, they provide a necessary lifeline to people in places where the US is militarily involved to reach American audiences when they are overlooked by the media. When these sites require those individuals to filter what they post, when they exercise editorial discretion to cater to user sensibilities as Twitter does, they shirk their responsibility to the national discourse,” the account owner told The Gateway Pundit.
According to Walker Bragman, an independent journalist associated with the account, the suspension last week came after they sent a tweet questioning the Center for American Progress’ connections to the UAE. It also happened to be the week when Senate was expected to vote on a measure to end US involvement in Yemen.
.@Twitter has suspended the official @OpDesanitize account, a shared account which publishes graphic photos from war zones the US is involved in–mainly Yemen.
This comes after the account a recent tweet questioning the Center for American Progress' connections to the UAE.
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) December 4, 2018
Following backlash from all over the political spectrum, Twitter reinstated the account.
“After further review, we have unsuspended your account as it does not appear to be in violation of the Twitter rules,” the email began. “Your account is now unsuspended. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
Amazing what a little social media pressure will do. We’re back everyone! Thank you for the support! pic.twitter.com/CT7HDpeaa3
— De-Sanitized News (@OpDeSanitize) December 4, 2018
Upon being reinstated, the account tweeted, “from the looks of it, Twitter just gave us the green light to continue posting graphic photos from US engagements overseas. We will continue to fight to expose atrocities and call out those who do not.”
The heartbreaking photos that were tweeted from the account were published unedited by Paste Magazine in August.
“Despite their propensity to offend viewer sensibilities, these scenes are necessary for American audiences. Images have a unique power to humanize brutality—to connect terms like ‘civilian casualties’ and ‘collateral’ to faces across the globe belonging to people who, as it turns out, look an awful lot like us. Footage can sway public opinion and catalyze policy change by delivering us from our detachment and laying bare our egocentrism,” Bragman wrote in his powerful article accompanying the photos in Paste.
In October, it was revealed that Saudi Arabia had groomed a Twitter employee to spy on dissenters. The report additionally detailed how Saudi operatives “mobilized to harass critics on Twitter” to stop them from speaking out and mass report content that they wanted censored.
“The government has created its Twitter army by paying young men about 10,000 Saudi riyals, or $3,000, a month to tweet,” the report explained.
The post Twitter Bans Anti-War Account Again — After Apologizing for Previous Ban and Reinstating Them Last Week appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
