Twitter Suspended Me Again For Exercising Free Speech. Permanently This Time.

“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.” - Elon Musk.

It’s happened to me probably half a dozen times over the 15 years I’ve been on Twitter: I say something that is politically incorrect, but is within the bounds of free speech, and someone reports my account, and I get suspended. The last time I was suspended, it was because I took this image I saw ON TWITTER, the day of the shooting committed by a trans youth in Nashville back in April:

And made these comments about it:

When people I know get suspended, it’s almost always about something to do with gender ideology.

But for me at least, this time, the suspension is permanent.

What is my thoughtcrime on this fine Sunday in June, you ask? Saying that people who mutilate children under the euphemism of “gender affirming care” should face execution. And inasmuch as those children will have to suffer the consequences of what adults did to them for the rest of their lives, it shouldn’t be as quick as a firing squad.

Now, I’d offer more context, but I can’t. Twitter deleted my tweet, and I can’t see all of the interactions related to it.

Rhetorically, I was being somewhat hyperbolic. But I actually do believe that the penalty for mutilating the reproductive organs of children, or performing full mastectomies on underage girls, or giving puberty blockers that permanently alter the normal functioning of pubescent bodies, should face the severest of consequences. It’s hard to think of something more evil a person can do to a child than this. And I’ve heard too many stories from people who have had it done to them as children. It has ruined their lives.

What I was not doing was advocating vigilante or any other kind of extrajudicial justice. I am in favor of changing the law to make the penalty for committing such acts to be heavily punished. (I’d settle for life in prison, but I’m not strictly opposed to capital punishment in cases like this.)

As a father of many children, it upsets me so much to hear these stories. Especially when you read about what vaginoplasty or phalloplasty actually do to the human body. Or you see some of the statistics on children under the influence of transgender ideology. Or read how many kids are having these kinds of procedures performed. Procedures like double mastectomies being done on perfectly healthy girls between the ages of 13 and 16. Or about kids like Jazz Jennings, who “didn’t have enough penile skin to form a vagina” when he got his vaginoplasty because of puberty blockers.

To know that parents are out there doing this to children who are still too young to have any idea what the long-term consequences will be. Children who are psychologically incapable of making such decisions for themselves.

This is madness. It’s barbarism of the worst kind. And yes, I’m angry and think people MUST be held accountable for what they’re doing.

If Musk is right, and Twitter is the “de facto Town Square,” why should my opinion be forcibly silenced? I am advocating legal, criminal penalties for criminal acts. What hope do I have that my appeal will ever be heard? The last time I was suspended, I waited a week on my appeal, and nobody ever got back to me. I finally deleted my tweet just so I could continue using my account. I never got a reply from Twitter’s support team, even to this day.

This time, I have no such option. In fact, Twitter’s rules prohibit me from making a new account entirely. They’re completely draconian:

Our rules exist to help keep everyone using Twitter safe and ensure they can participate freely in the public conversation. Therefore, we prohibit attempts to circumvent prior enforcement, including through the creation of new accounts.

What is in violation of this policy?

Under this policy we prohibit a range of behaviors:

• You can’t circumvent permanent suspensions. If an account has been permanently suspended for severe violations of the Twitter Rules, Twitter reserves the right to also permanently suspend any other account we believe the same account holder or entity may be operating in violation of our earlier suspension, regardless of when the other account was created.

• You can’t circumvent a Twitter suspension, enforcement action, or anti-spam challenge. This includes any behavior intended to evade any Twitter remediation, such as creating a new account or repurposing an already-existing account.

• You can’t circumvent a Twitter suspension by operating, or having someone else operate on your behalf, an account which represents your identity, persona, brand or business persona for a different purpose. 

• You can’t allow someone who has been permanently suspended from Twitter to permanently take over or temporarily operate your account.

• You can’t imitate a suspended account if the apparent intent is to replace a suspended account. Operating a parody, newsfeed, commentary, and fan account that does not function as a replacement of the suspended account is not in violation of the above, provided that the account follows the applicable requirements outlined in the policy.

What happens if you violate this policy?

The consequences for violating this policy depend on the type and severity of the violation and of the accounts’ previous history of violations. 

Circumventing a Twitter enforcement action (such as a permanent suspension) by creating accounts or repurposing existing accounts to replace or mimic a suspended account is a violation of the ban evasion policy; it will result in permanent suspension at first detection. 

We may suspend any account that is being operated to circumvent a Twitter enforcement action (such as a temporary account lock). Note that the account owner may in some circumstances be allowed back on Twitter following a successful appeal; however, any account used for the purpose of circumventing Twitter remediation will remain suspended.

I am a content creator and public commentator. That’s my career. The loss of over 14,000 followers, and the rule forbidding me even from creating a new account associated with my name or any business affiliated with me, materially harms my ability to share content and earn income.

All because I had an opinion that is neither illegal nor unethical, and is arguably not even a violation of Twitter’s extremely broad language about “violent speech.” (For example, if a state is about to legally execute a prisoner, is it “wishing harm” to say the state is doing the right thing and justice is being served? Are all the people hoping that someone takes out Vladimir Putin before he can continue this war “wishing harm” in a way that violates the TOS? There are so many tweets that technically fall under “wishing harm” that are not deemed to be material violations of the policy.)

I know that at the end of the day, I’m just hollering into the wind. There’s a good chance my appeal will never be heard by a human being who is objective and fair. I created a new account to ask that my appeal be heard, but that will probably also be suspended, because the policy on banned accounts states that “You can’t circumvent a Twitter suspension by operating, or having someone else operate on your behalf, an account which represents your identity, persona, brand or business persona for a different purpose.”

I put a lot of faith in Musk’s takeover of Twitter. I bought stock in the company before he took it private. I’m a paid subscriber of Twitter Blue. The fact that an unaccountable process can take away your ability to speak in the only place people are listening, without any semblance of fairness when it comes to hearing your side, is really disturbing. My reach here at my Substack is significantly smaller than it was there. I have five times as many followers on Twitter as Facebook. To be frank, I’ve never found a platform as potent for the purposes of sharing ideas.

Musk criticizes other platforms for their summary suspensions of non-woke speech and invites the banned to come to Twitter. And you would be forgiven for thinking Musk probably agrees with me, inasmuch as he says “gender affirming care for minors” is “pure evil”:

Gee, Elon, what do you do with people who are committing acts of pure evil? You at least imprison them. But if history is any guide, sometimes you send them to the gallows.

I’m not going to stop saying what I believe is true out of fear of being silenced.

We are not our own masters anymore. Summary justice with nothing resembling a fair trial mean arbitrary silencing. The empowerment of individuals to speak and be heard is an illusion that can be taken in a moment with no recourse.

Free speech is no longer free.

UPDATE: They already denied my appeal. There’s clearly not an actual human being on the other side of this process. Certainly not someone who can be reasoned with.

Elon Musk himself has said that people who perform sex-changes on children should get life in prison. I just took it a step further and said it should be the death penalty. In what world does this make sense?