21 Feb 2018 1:31 pm
Apparently right wingers attract more BOTS, maybe because they are more likely to re-Tweet that garbage.Conservative Twitter is freaking out over a reported bot purge.
Twitter has seemingly suspended thousands of suspected bot accounts, and some conservatives are claiming it’s a deliberate political crackdown, or “Twitter Lockout.”
This morning, a number of right-leaning users complained about losing dramatic numbers of followers — including Michael Flynn, Jr., “alt-right” figurehead Richard Spencer, journalist Cassandra Fairbanks, and Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson.
Other people posted (unconfirmed) reports that they had been temporarily locked out of their accounts because of “unusual activity” and “automated behavior,” and were asked to provide a phone number for verification.
Contacted for comment, Twitter told The Verge that “Twitter’s tools are apolitical, and we enforce our rules without political bias.
As part of our ongoing work in safety, we identify suspicious account behaviors that indicate automated activity or violations of our policies around having multiple accounts, or abuse.
We also take action on any accounts we find that violate our terms of service, including asking account owners to confirm a phone number so we can confirm a human is behind it.
That’s why some people may be experiencing suspensions or locks.
This is part of our ongoing, comprehensive efforts to make Twitter safer and healthier for everyone.”
