Twitter Suspended AZ Audit Accounts For Violating Policy

Yelena Dzhanova

Politics

28th July 2021

Twitter Suspended AZ Audit Accounts For Violating Policy

The accounts had violated Twitter's civic integrity policy (Getty Images).

The Claim

Twitter permanently suspended two accounts that covered news related to the Arizona 2020 election audit.

News posted on

Emerging story

Twitter recently suspended eight accounts that have been monitoring the Arizona audit of the 2020 election. On July 27 and July 28, two of those suspensions made waves among Republican lawmakers and Twitter users, many of whom have bios that indicate they’re supporters of President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again platform. One user claimed that the motivation behind the ban was that Twitter “[doesn’t] like the results of the audit.”

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Misbar’s Analysis

The exact date Twitter suspended both Arizona accounts is unclear. As of at least July 27, according to media outlets like BuzzFeed News, the two accounts have been permanently suspended for violating Twitter policy and promoting false claims. This has created a commotion on Twitter, particularly among apparent supporters of President Donald Trump and known Republicans.

Wendy Rogers, a GOP state senator from Arizona, for example, posted a screenshot of the accounts and predicted Twitter would suspend her next. “Follow me on Telegram and Gab for when I am booted,” she said. “I will be next.”

The two Arizona accounts — along with six others that Twitter also permanently suspended — spread misinformation pertaining to the 2020 presidential election, according to BuzzFeed News. The accounts called for audits of election results across various states, claiming the vote counts were wildly inaccurate.

Trump has repeatedly peddled such claims ever since November when his loss to now-President Joe Biden first became apparent.

The morning after all votes were in, Trump refused to concede, pushing a false claim that the election was rigged and that he had come out the real victor. He continued to make this claim over and over for a period of months, even after he left office. And along the way, other Republicans latched on.

Contrary to these claims, there has been no evidence of voter fraud in any state. Biden has won the election and is now sitting in the role of US president for at least the next four years. His victory was certified by Congress in January after the Capitol riot broke out.

These suspensions mark the latest attempt by Twitter to curtail the spread of misinformation on the social media platform. Twitter has been removing content from and suspending accounts that promote misinformation, specifically about the 2020 presidential election, since Congress certified the results in January.

Far-right website Gateway Pundit, for example, was suspended in February for spreading false information about the 2020 presidential election. The account accrued "repeated violations" of its civic integrity policy, which prohibits users from tweeting "for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes,” a Twitter spokesperson told Forbes.