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You gotta love the foibles and missteps that go along with any tech company, but this one is near the top of the list... Twitter Suspends Alt-Right Accounts…And Its CEO

You gotta love the foibles and missteps that go along with any tech company, but this one is near the top of the list for ironic–and hopefully laughter-inducing–mistakes. Twitter has been on a rampage suspending accounts that now violate its “play nice” rules, and according to TechCrunch, its own CEO and co-founder got caught in the shut ’em down crossfire.

Twitter

First came the news from The Verge that highlights some key white supremacists’ accounts that were suspended for the content of their posts: “Among the users suspended this week is Richard Spencer, head of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think tank that, according to its website, is ‘dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States.’ Spencer’s personal verified account was suspended, as were those of the National Policy Institute and his magazine, Radix Journal. Other suspended alt-right Twitter users include Paul Town, Pax Dickinson, Ricky Vaughn and John Rivers.” While the alleged “alt-right” account holders have been very vocal about the move, Twitter has stayed silent on the issue.

Whether a part of the same crackdown or just a random oops, Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey had his account suspended as well, albeit for only a matter of hours. Dorsey’s initial tweet upon return–a throwback to his original “very first tweet”–gives us all hope that whomever was responsible for the mistake got a good-natured dressing down in the employee breakroom rather than career-ending consequences.

If the CEO is but one casualty in the effort to block hate speech and trolling on the social media site, there are many who would argue it’s a worthwhile sacrifice. Twitter has long been criticized for not shutting down cyberbullying and outright criminal threats.

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