Twitter’s decision points to deepening anxieties over what some people view as increasing restrictions on their right to voice non-politically correct ideas
Free speech advocate Lindsay Shepherd, who was permanently banned from Twitter earlier this week, says the move underscores wider concerns that the firm has been overzealous in its censorship of right-leaning public figures.
Shepherd, a former Wilfrid Laurier University teaching assistant turned free speech activist, said she was permanently banned from Twitter on Monday, likely in connection to comments in which she misgendered trans woman Jessica Yaniv on July 14.
In an interview with the National Post Tuesday, Shepherd said her banishment from the social media platform is the most recent example of the San Francisco-based company limiting the free expression of some users. The company said it is banning some users as part of a bid to stem online harassment.
“Because this is a trans individual they are untouchable … they are allowed to mock and taunt me about my biology, they can say whatever crude things they want,” she said. “But when it comes to me wanting to take a shot back at that person and wanting to stand up for myself — or for my womanhood so to speak — I am permanently kicked off.”
Jesse Snyder – National Post – July 16, 2019.