Twitter Locked Daily Caller’s EIC’s Account After He Tweeted ‘Learn to Code’ at The Daily Show
More evidence that yes, Twitter targets your account if you tweet “Learn to Code.”
The Daily Caller’s White House Correspondent Amber Athey tweeted out this morning that Twitter locked out the publication’s Editor-In-Chief Geoffrey Ingersoll after he tweeted “learn to code” to The Daily Show.
It’s happening, y’all. @DailyCaller’s editor in chief was locked out of his Twitter account last night for tweeting “learn to code.”
He was told to delete the tweet to restore account access or appeal the decision.
Full story:https://t.co/B0WtkuAzrQ
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) February 6, 2019
So…. Twitter *is* basically just suspending people for tweeting “learn to code” even if it isn’t part of any targeted harassment campaign. Looks like @LevineJonathan‘s original source was right, and what Twitter told me and others was spin https://t.co/bCCMH9YEjp https://t.co/93JDQ4BWHa
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) February 6, 2019
Fuzzy blogged on January 26 that people tweeted #LearnToCode memes to laid off journalists at HuffPo, BuzzFeed, and Yahoo! News just as they did a year ago to laid off coal miners.
Two days later, The Wrap’s Jon Levine tweeted that a Twitter source told him that tweeting “learn to code” at laid off journalists is in fact “abusive behavior” and violates the terms of service.
Others spinned the news to Reason’s Robby Soave:
But a spokesperson for Twitter tells me that it’s “more nuanced” than that.
“Twitter is responding to a targeted harassment campaign against specific individuals—a policy that’s long been against the Twitter Rules,” said the spokesperson in an email to Reason.
Welp, it looks like it isn’t “more nuanced” than originally told to Levine. You tweet “learn to code” then you will get locked out. It’s pretty clear cut.
From The Daily Caller:
The Daily Show’s Twitter account made a video game-related joke about President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address, ribbing that the president unlocked the “asymmetrical background” achievement by getting Vice President Mike Pence to stand but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to remain seated.
Achievement Unlocked: Asymmetrical Background pic.twitter.com/4P9bDwEjtW
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 6, 2019
“Learn to code,” Ingersoll replied in jest.
The Caller editor received notification from Twitter shortly thereafter indicating that he would have to delete the tweet or remain locked out of his account. Ingersoll’s tweet allegedly “violated the Twitter rules,” according to a review, but Twitter did not say which specific rule or rules had been violated. (RELATED: Two Conservatives Suspended From Twitter — One For Tweeting About Brussels Sprouts)
Here are the screenshots:
Ingersoll decided not to delete the tweet. He chose “to issue an appeal shortly after midnight.” The Daily Caller asked Twitter about the lockout this morning, which led Twitter to send Ingersoll an email two hours later. The social media platform apologized and told him “they had made an ‘error’ by removing access to his account.”
Since “Ingersoll’s tweet was not directed at a laid off journalist and was deemed by Twitter to not be a part of a ‘targeted harassment campaign.'”
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Comments
I think I’ve figured it out. “Learn to Code” traumatizes the laid off socjus journalists because it reminds them that they don’t have the cognitive abilities of a Coal Miner, and can’t retrain themselves to a useful purpose.
Perhaps they’re just doing their bit to combat electronic tedium. “Learn to code” has rapidly become as trite, tedious and trivial as the inevitable comments about popcorn futures.
No, that’s not it. Otherwise they’d just shut their whole platform down.
Someone at Twitter needs to Learn to Code.
Agreed!
But I would say ALL those worthless Twitter employees need to “Learn to Code” because they are soon all going to be laid off.
What the heck do they think all those Twitter Visa applications are for?????
Snark.
I got the same message regarding a reply to an article regarding black opposition to SYG. In that case is cited FBI crime statistics which showed that black crime was a bit over seven times normal. I replied, citing the source, told twitter it was a verified fact, and to either restore the account or delete it. And that furthermore, there are alternatives who would be happy to take people whom they alienate. When they did not respond or remove the block I abandoned the account and use of twitter.
Twitter most certainly has the legal right to play little dictator, and the public has the right to walk away. They keep this stuff up they will build resentment, and by the time they realise that some other service has benefited, it will be too late for them to recover.
I cannot count how many business thought that they were king shit, and destroyed their business, leading eventually to failure.
TWTR stock has an embattled history to say the least. It does not have the successes of a Facebook type stock, not even close.
In other words, they really should be extra mindful of how they treat their customers because they are having difficulty in valuation of the product.
Hechinger should be a verb.
Coding requires accuracy and attention to detail, both of which are antithetical to journalism.
Journalists are offended by “learn to code” for the same reason aristocrats are offended when told they should take a peasant’s job.
Have a Everybody Tweet “learn to code” Day. See what Twitter does.