Purged

Twitter has started its “purge.” Among the purged: Trump’s buddy Jayda Fransen, source of the “look out, Moooslims!!” videos he retweeted.

The implementation of Twitter’s new rules was the latest attempt by technology companies to crack down on abuses of their platforms in the aftermath of Charlottesville’s bloody demonstration in August. Though Twitter’s announcement in a morning blog post did not make this connection explicit, companies have been scrambling for months to address allegations that their platforms had become breeding grounds for extremist groups.

Far-right political figures have been criticizing these moves as assaults on their rights to free speech, and some have called Twitter’s new policy part of an effort to “purge” them.

Rights to free speech≠rights to use other people’s free platforms. We can say Twitter or Facebook are using shit criteria for their decisions, but “rights” don’t come into it.

Among those whose accounts went offline Monday were three affiliated with the group Britain First, including its main account and those maintained by its leader, Paul Golding, and his deputy Jayda Fransen. It was her anti-Muslim posts last month that were retweeted by President Trump, a move that earned him sharp rebuke from British Prime Minister Theresa May.

And disgust from much of the planet.

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