Twitter cracks down on First Amendment, suspends writer's account for calling out Lowe insensitive 'joke'

Twitter can really get things wrong at times. It temporarily suspended my account today after I called out #RobLowe for a culturally-insensitive comment about Native Americans and Sen. #ElizabethWarren. Here is my response to #Twitter: Greetings, I am being suspended for "hateful conduct?" I was calling out Rob Lowe for his culturally-insensitive tweet that he deleted about Sen. Elizabeth Warren. His tweet said, "Elizabeth Warren would bring a whole new meaning to Commander in 'Chief."' My response was simple and direct: "@RobLowe You might as well paint yourself in #redface." How is that comment hateful? I am just pointing out that what he said was insensitive and he might as well take it to the full mocking form. If anyone's account should be suspended, it should be Mr. Lowe's. I'm not the one who made the insensitive "joke" about Native Americans. I was simply pointing out that his tweet was insensitive, though I am not calling for Mr. Lowe's account to be suspended. I believe in freedom of speech and the First Amendment. There are limits, of course, such as using actual violent threats. But neither Mr. Lowe's original tweet nor my response can be considered violent or hateful. Regards, Jackson Thoreau This is the email I received from Twitter about this: <<<<Hi JackThor, Your account, @jackthor44 has been locked for violating the Twitter Rules. Specifically for: Violating our rules against hateful conduct. You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. avatar Jackson Thoreau @jackthor44 @RobLowe You might as well paint yourself in #redface Please note that repeated violations may lead to a permanent suspension of your account. Proceed to Twitter now to fix the issue with your account.

Like I said, there are times when suspensions are warranted, such as when users have actually threatened to track down someone else and harass them or worse. But too many times, the thoughtless police at such social media outlets take actions without really thinking through things.

#FirstAmendment #FreedomofSpeech #socialmedia