Early Wednesday morning, Twitter user Scott R. Faughn urged followers to harass U.S. senate candidate Todd Akin by calling or texting his personal cellphone number.
At Ben @Grivno's suggestion, screencap with redacted phone number. @support @abuse @twitter pic.twitter.com/9KIkTcqR
— Mostly Peaceful ScottO* (@gscottoliver) August 22, 2012
The tweet wasn’t just despicable — tweeting “people’s private and confidential information” is a clear violation of the Twitter rules.
What a creep move. Not to mention an @twitter rule violation. #wow @scottfaughn
— Chris Loesch (@ChrisLoesch) August 22, 2012
@luis_cosenza @dloesch Well @scottfaughn just broke Twitter's top TOS. Slimy move.
— Ed Shahzade (@Ed) August 22, 2012
Faughn didn’t seem to care.
@DLoesch look its late & I dont want to get into an insult fest with you If its against twitter rules theyll remove if not read another feed
— Scott Faughn (@scottfaughn) August 22, 2012
His tweet was retweeted a handful of times, most notably by Jason Crowell, a Republican state senator in Missouri. Screen shot courtesy of @pbolyard:
And despicable for Missouri State Senator @senjasoncrowell to RT it. Shameful and disrespectful to the office you hold. #MOsen
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 22, 2012
I would think it's a security issue to Tweet the personal cell number of a sitting congressman, don't you think?
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 22, 2012
https://twitter.com/TabithaHale/status/238150202618433536
https://twitter.com/informedblackmn/status/238153350091259905
@AceofSpadesHQ @DLoesch @senjasoncrowell This so called Senator should be suspended from twitter and investigated for misconduct imo.
— Brandon (@BDavid33) August 22, 2012
Faughn and Crowell’s tweets have been deleted, but they have not apologized and their accounts have not been suspended.
During the Olympic games in July, journalist Guy Adams was suspended from Twitter for tweeting the corporate email address of NBC executive Gary Zenkel after NBC filed a complaint. That address was widely available on the Internet.
And yet, Spike Lee and Roseanne Barr tweeted out George Zimmermans’s personal information and did not have their accounts suspended.
Will State Sen. Jason Crowell be allowed to continue flouting the rules?
Hat tip: @pbolyard
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