A.G. Gancarski
As Republican presidential candidates prepare to debate in Milwaukee, a prominent super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis was briefly deplatformed on X.
Visitors to the Never Back Down Twitter account on Wednesday morning were greeted with an untimely message. “Account suspended. Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules,” the main account screen read for some minutes Wednesday.
“It’s #GOPDebate day and the Never Back Down account was just suspended for no apparent reason,” posted Matt Wolking, who directs strategic communications for the super PAC. “What is going on, Elon Musk?”
That sentiment was reposted by the super PAC’s spox, Erin Perrine. When we reached out to Never Back Down for more information, they provided a link to Wolking’s post in lieu of a statement.
Accounts can be suspended for a number of reasons, including “safety” concerns such as “abuse/harassment” and “hateful conduct,” as well as so-called “platform manipulation.” The suspension notice posted publicly offers no insight into the specific reason for the temporary ban, though Wolking ultimately posted that the account was reported as “spam.”
The account was quickly reinstated, though with an incorrect follower count at first. Whereas the account had more than 18,000 followers before the suspension, it was in single digits after the reinstatement, before full restoration by Wednesday afternoon.
Wolking continued to question the suspension, meanwhile, saying the PAC “asked X and Musk to disclose whether … Trump-backed accounts and their affiliated bot network have recently engaged in mass reporting against the Never Back Down account in order to manipulate X’s rules.”
The official account of the DeSantis campaign, the DeSantis War Room, remains unsuspended. Its last post was a blast of Anthony Fauci on Tuesday at this writing.
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This is a developing story and may be updated.
6 comments
Earl Pitts "Nature Boy" American
August 23, 2023 at 10:52 am
Good morntimg America,
Elon suspended “The Ronald”? And on “Debate Eve?
Thats it America I, Earl Pitts American, just paid off that little Facebook nerd boy to stand down so I, Earl Pitts “Nature Boy” American, am now next in line for the “Cage Match” “No Disqulifacation” “Beat Down” “Smack Down” “Winner Take All” “Gruge Match”.
If that softey Elon wins I, Earl Pitts American, must give Elon my multi-million-dollar political advisement/King-Maker business.
When I, Earl Pitts American, give Elon the smack-down he deserves Elon must give me Twitter/X and his outer space division.
Tesla? Oh H€LL No that business is swirling the (RAPPER No Thank You.
JD
August 23, 2023 at 11:50 am
Thinking Elon is for Free Speech is like thinking the stripper likes you.
Michael K
August 23, 2023 at 12:42 pm
Spot on!
Thomas Kaspar
August 23, 2023 at 12:56 pm
Total chronic fabrication . Twitter had system errors and deleted 2014 and earlier data .
Silly Wabbit
August 23, 2023 at 1:51 pm
You kwazy.
Tom
August 23, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Gee. I though Elon and Rhonda were bff’s. They probably should have known after the debacle of a launch on twitter that using twitter or x or whatever it is was doomed to failure. Oh well. So sad, too bad.
Comments are closed.