Twitter has reinstated the account of U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran and Houston-based talk show host Jesse Kelly. What was originally deemed an out-of-the blue, as it were, permanent ban on Sunday for the conservative pundit was reclassified by the influential social network as a temporary suspension, but without a specific explanation for either action.
From The Daily Wire:
“‘The account was temporarily suspended for violating the Twitter Rules and has been reinstated,’ a Twitter spokesperson told The Daily Wire. ‘We have communicated directly with the account owner.'”
"Temporarily suspended"? What a boldface lie. Twitter “permanently suspended” Jesse Kelly's account and told him it “will not be restored.” But now under the threat of a Congressional investigation, they say it was just "temporary," and now it's magically restored. https://t.co/T4w6D14AzF
— Kelsey Harkness (@kelseyjharkness) November 27, 2018
The change of heart came after there were rumblings that the U.S. House might investigate Twitter CEO for perjury when he testified that Twitter harbors no political bias.
Lots of Jesse Kelly fans also chimed in on Twitter to protest the former congressional candidate’s abrupt removal.
There are various other high-profile, right-leaning users whose accounts are still in limbo, however.
In August, Jesse Kelly predicted that Twitter was using the ban of fringe media personality like Alex Jones merely as a trial run for banning mainstream conservatives, libertarians, and populists from social media.
U.S. Senator-elect Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican has vowed to investigate Twitter’s practices. Whether his colleagues will join in on the inquiry remains to be seen.
In September, news broke that the Trump administration was preparing an executive order to launch an investigation into the business practices of social media companies in the context of potential antitrust violations and platform bias, Bloomberg Politics reported.
A finalized, signed executive order has not yet emerged, however. This is yet another reason why the president needs to formally nominate a new U.S. attorney general.
The new Congress needs to investigate and find out. Twitter is exempt from liability as a “publisher” because it is allegedly “a forum for a true diversity of political discourse.” That does not appear to be accurate.
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 27, 2018
Good. Now I look forward to @jack’s full explanation, and how Twitter’s recent actions fit with his testimony to Congress. Under oath. Scrutiny needed here. https://t.co/PAKGMsA32a
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 27, 2018
In a late August CNN interview, Dorsey admitted that Twitter is a “more left-leaning” organization, but claimed that the network refrains from policing content based on political ideology, LifeZette reported.
Most individuals on the right of the political spectrum, generally aren’t proponents of government intervention into the economy.
That said, the selective attempts by social networks to silence political speech online — which includes suspensions, permanent bans, shadowbanning, throttling, de-platforming, or de-monetization — has convinced many that the tech sector cries out for regulation.
