# Twitter suspends alt-right accounts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2016, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136 "2016-11-16T07:42:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/1 "2016-11-16T07:42:27Z")
I’m sure this is not going to go over well. Twitter has suspended some alt-right accounts for tweeting what Twitter is calling hate speech. > **[Twitter suspends alt-right accounts](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/11/15/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/93943194/)** > > The move came the same day the social media service said it would crack down on hate speech. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/2 "2016-11-16T07:51:50Z")
> [@](#): > > “I am alive physically but digitally speaking there has been execution squads across the alt right,” he said. “There is a great purge going on and they are purging people based on their views.” …Oh the drama! My heart is bleeding. It isn’t going to go well over with the Alt-Right. But everyone else: especially the people that these guys have been targeting, will be rejoicing. This should have happened a couple of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/3 "2016-11-16T08:01:09Z")
There’s going to be a lot of pearl clutching, and the alt right is really going to have a field day with this. Not sure it was a great idea, but I understand their rationale. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/4 "2016-11-16T08:13:22Z")
An excellent idea being put into motion about 6 months too late. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/5 "2016-11-16T09:23:55Z")
Colour me decidedly unsympathetic. These people have spouted vile stuff and engaged in campaigns of abuse. > [@USAToday](#): > > Spencer has said he wants blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Jews removed from the U.S. > [@](#): > > In one of the highest-profile bans, Twitter removed the account of Milo Yiannopoulos, a technology editor at the conservative news site Breitbart in July. He had engaged in a campaign of abuse in which hundreds of anonymous Twitter accounts bombarded Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones with racist and sexist taunts. Before banning Yiannopoulos, Twitter stripped him of his verified status. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/6 "2016-11-16T10:10:27Z")
First they came for the alt-right and I did not speak out, because I was not a Twitter troll. Then they came for the sarcastic assholes, and there was no one left to speak for me. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/7 "2016-11-16T10:22:13Z")
“They banned my twitter account for being a racist douchebag. This is exactly like Nazi Germany!” What a tool. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/8 "2016-11-16T10:34:24Z")
Anyone aggrieved by Twitter’s decision is free to start their own platform and attract their own audience. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/9 "2016-11-16T13:52:28Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Anyone aggrieved by Twitter’s decision is free to start their own platform and attract their own audience. [They already did, a couple months ago.](https://gab.ai/) Twitter can obviously do what they want, but I suspect that attempts to put down the alt-right via censorship will be about as effective as the Weimar Republic’s ban on hate speech. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/10 "2016-11-16T14:08:24Z")
Did the government order Twitter to suspend those accounts? No? Then it’s not friggin’ censorship. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/11 "2016-11-16T14:15:19Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Did the government order Twitter to suspend those accounts? No? Then it’s not friggin’ censorship. No, in my view this is not entirely correct. There’s nothing about the word that mandates it be used only to describe official, government action. I might blurt out an embarrassing revelation and then say, “Gosh, I have to learn to censor myself.” In my opinion, it’s more accurate to say that while government censorship is held to very limited boundaries, a private actor is free to limit speech much more broadly, and that while it is censorious, it’s not the type of censorship that the First Amendment prevents. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/12 "2016-11-16T14:20:44Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > No, in my view this is not entirely correct. There’s nothing about the word that mandates it be used only to describe official, government action. I might blurt out an embarrassing revelation and then say, “Gosh, I have to learn to censor myself.” > > In my opinion, it’s more accurate to say that while government censorship is held to very limited boundaries, a private actor is free to limit speech much more broadly, and that while it is censorious, it’s not the type of censorship that the First Amendment prevents. Pedantic, yes, but no snark. 😃 Good job, **Bricker**! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/13 "2016-11-16T14:26:09Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Pedantic, yes, but no snark. 😃 Good job, **Bricker**! Yeah, I’m trying to follow this guidance. I have railed at the mocking and derision leveled by the left, because in my view it led to the Trump election. But if my own snark fueled that fire, and it probably did, then I have myself to blame for adding to the problem. So I’m trying to dial back the snark. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/14 "2016-11-16T14:30:55Z")
Being a part time amateur pedant, I too approve of well placed pedantry. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/15 "2016-11-16T14:46:52Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Did the government order Twitter to suspend those accounts? No? Then it’s not friggin’ censorship. “Censorship” refers to any efforts to limit expression, not merely governmental ones. The SDMB has certain words and idioms that are banned: that is within their rights, and I have no problem with it, but it is censorship nonetheless. Ditto Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/16 "2016-11-16T14:57:38Z")
Moved to MPSIMS ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/17 "2016-11-16T16:17:49Z")
The greatest marketing trick white supremacists pulled was getting called “alt-right”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/18 "2016-11-16T16:26:23Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > The greatest marketing trick white supremacists pulled was getting called “alt-right”. Isn’t it short for “Alternate for being right”? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/19 "2016-11-16T16:43:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Isn’t it short for “Alternate for being right”? I thought “alt-” as a prefix came from internet newsgroups–many of them had alt-something names, alt-cats, alt-athiesm, alt-sex, etc. [They were originally alt.dot.something, but having a period/dot in a name can be problematic.] They tended to be not too mainstream discussions. Back before the proliferation message boards, newsgroups were unmoderated places for discussion. I guess they’re still around–I don’t follow any of them anymore. Used to get some good cat health tips from one of them. I don’t know if that’s where “alt-right” started, but the name follows the naming conventions of that type of group. Here’s some [info](http://www.tech-faq.com/how-to-access-free-alt-newsgroups.html)about alt groups. Go [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newsgroups)and scroll down to “alt hierarchy.” I don’t consider myself extremely knowledgeable about the interwebs, but surely someone else has come up with this explanation of the name “alt-right” besides me? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136/20 "2016-11-16T16:43:24Z")
Your move, Facebook. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-suspends-alt-right-accounts/772136.md?page=2)