Twitter's Permenant Ban

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Introduction

It has been twenty months since Twitter/X permanently banned my account, and I'm still disappointed by the decision. I send an appeal about every four months just to see if they will reconsider. I think I will need to send a written letter to Elon Musk (and Linda Yaccarino, X Corp's CEO) as there doesn't appear to be an escalation process. Is the permanent ban part of the former "Stay Woke" or "Psychological Safety" culture Elon Musk references in the book by Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk? It is a great book if you need something to read.

After reading my offense below, do you think the permanent ban was justified? Do you think it is a worse offense than Kathy Griffin's beheading of President Donald Trump or the time when she falsely impersonated Elon Musk? Her account was re-instated.

As you will read, I made a careless remark. It was a momentary lapse in judgement as I continue to bring attention and spotlight hatred based on race, sex, religion—An example, Inclusion & Value Matters Most.

The following is my original post (September 2022).

Getting Permanently Banned

You might think this article is about Donald Trump or some right-wing or left-wing person who is angry and has fallen off the deep end with their violent rhetoric. It isn’t.

This is about my Twitter account which was permanently banned by Twitter a few weeks ago. This is an account that I’ve had for over 13 years without an incident. Yes, it does venture into some political commentary; however, it is mostly to follow and comment on my favorite athletes as I watch them play their professional sport (example, U.S. Open that is currently underway). Sometimes I may air my displeasure in a company if I felt their service was subpar.

I do want to acknowledge that my Tweet response did break Twitter’s official policy. It is one I regret, and I have apologized publicly to Twitter, privately in my attempt at an appeal, and on Facebook. I will not deny that the Tweet crossed the line. My frustration and disagreement is with Twitter instituting a one-strike policy although they have deleted the Tweet.

The Offensive Tweet

The other day, someone posted a random video that was recorded in New York. It had a young, white male verbally abusing an Orthodox Jew. The video goes on for a few minutes, then this young man punches the Jew in the face.

I was upset. I was upset at the young man, but I think I was more upset by the bystanders not intervening to help protect the older man (Jew or not). They were watching and video recording the interaction. Unfortunately, this becoming all too common. Racism, black hate, Asian hate, anti-Semitism, etc. needs to stop.

That incident frustrated me to where I made the following comment:

Why is everyone standing around and watching? Why isn’t anyone intervening? Someone should beat his arse.

I then retweeted the video with:

Why are there a bunch of people standing around just watching? Freaking cowards.

Twitter’s Response

It was a few days later when I signed into my account with the following notice:

Twitter also emailed stating that they permanently banned me because my comment was “targeted harassment,” but I could try to appeal if I disagree with the ban.

Twitter deleted the offending comment, but they left the retweet.

My Main Objections

The comment was wrong, and it was aggressive. Here are my objections to the permanent ban:

• It is a first offensive of their “targeted harassment” policy.
• Twitter is super aggressive with their one-strike rule; especially for someone that has had an account for 13+ years.
• Twitter doesn’t appear to have an easy way to escalate to a higher authority for reconsideration.
• Twitter has easily removed the Tweet.
• I’ve taken responsibility for the offense and committed to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
• I’ve publicly apologized several times on multiple platforms.
• If you search Twitter with “beat ass” and spend some time scrolling through the Tweets, you will find many Tweets similar to mine but they are still on the platform (even after months of posting similar Tweet).
• I’m not sure if this really qualifies for targeted harassment. It was a video posted by a random person with random comments. Nothing identified the person committing the act of violence.
• Twitter should actually support people that want to protect the vulnerable and people that would like to see the end of racism, xenophobes, white supremacy, neo-nazis, anti-Semites, etc..

Appeal Process

I submitted an appeal to Twitter with an apology and assurance it wouldn’t happen again. Within 24 hours, they responded they were going to keep the permanent ban. I then tried a second attempt with additional details and asking them to reconsider the one-strike rule for someone that has had a tenured account of 10+ years. Still no success.

In Summary

I would like to try a third attempt, but I don’t have confidence that they will reconsider. To compound the issue, they don’t allow you to create a new account even if you commit to a fresh start, a new attitude, and a new focus.

If you know me, my whole life is taking care of others; especially the most vulnerable. If you are interested, here is a story that I’ve recently written about our stray dog — Lost, Found and a Forever Home | by Stephen Legler.

To conclude, I would love for more people to express their support for Twitter by reviewing their one-strike policy and new account creation policy.

Original Source

First published on September 10, 2022. Medium | Twitter's Permanent Ban.

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