14 DAY TRIAL // Twitter is ignoring all the calls to ban US President Donald Trump for repeatedly violating the terms of service, but instead, it doesn’t have a problem to block an account of a regular user who posted death threats against a mosquito.
Twitter user @DaydreamMatcha discovered that his account was blocked by the service shortly after posting what he originally thought could be an amusing message for his followers:
“Bastard! Do you enjoy biting me all over while I'm trying to relax and watch TV? Die? (Actually, you're already dead),” he posted referring to a mosquito in his room. The user also posted a photo with the mosquito squashed on the floor.
But as it turns out, Twitter doesn’t allow any kind of threats to be posted on the service, so the @DaydreamMatcha account was quickly blocked because of what the company called a violation of its rules.
“Tweets containing threats are not allowed under our terms of service. This account cannot be reactivated. Thank you for your understanding,” Twitter reportedly explained.
Twitter says the user can appeal the decision
Most likely, Twitter refers to a line in its guidelines that define abusive behavior and which states that violence in any form is not allowed.
“Any accounts and related accounts engaging in the activities specified below may be temporarily locked and/or subject to permanent suspension. Violent threats (direct or indirect): You may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism,” Twitter says in its rules.
Despite Twitter clearly stating in its message that “the account cannot be reactivated,” the company’s support account pointed the banned user to a page where he can appeal an account suspension or blocked account, most likely after the story started making the rounds in Japan.
It remains to be seen whether the account freeze will be lifted or not, as the restriction was most likely the result of filters triggering bots fighting against rules violation and not the decision of a Twitter employee.