It's debate day and emotions are high in all of the candidate's camps. This morning, 'Never Back Down' , a pro DeSantis PAC, was suspended on Twitter (X). If not restored, this would impede their ability to tweet tonight in support of DeSantis. Obviously, that is a huge concern for the organization.
🚨Just in: Ron DeSantis's Super Pac Never Back Down X account has been suspended. pic.twitter.com/p62ZfWr3By
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) August 23, 2023
I do not care who you support, to suspend Never Back Down on #GOPDebateDay is election interference. https://t.co/UC0q7vhLvI
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) August 23, 2023
Indeed. Taking a communications arm of a PAC off of Twitter during a huge day like this is the definition of de-platforming.
Given their celebration, we have asked @X @elonmusk to disclose whether these Trump-backed accounts and their affiliated bot network have recently engaged in mass reporting against the @NvrBackDown24 account in order to manipulate X's rules. https://t.co/RrmEYKq1sO pic.twitter.com/Nx1MpQ6K6n
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) August 23, 2023
Here's a few more. pic.twitter.com/bFmhWN4BuZ
— I-am-Nobody (@SenecalsBAE_2) August 23, 2023
Many large Trump supporting accounts celebrated this suspension so 'Never Back Down' Communications Director, Matt Wolking, questioned if this was a targeted suspension. That means many accounts agree together to mass report one account leading to a quick Twitter response because of the sheer volume of reports.
X says it "seems like our automated systems incorrectly picked it up as 'spam.'"
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) August 23, 2023
We have asked X to tell us who exactly reported @NvrBackDown24 as spam.
Here's what the @NvrBackDown24 account tweeted this morning.
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) August 23, 2023
It's possible the Trump team was very upset and launched a coordinated effort to report the account. pic.twitter.com/A4q4Sgf8tw
WTH is going on @elonmusk ? This is election interference. Plz RT!!! https://t.co/fciHTySB9K
— Who Died And Made You Queen, Queen?🌻 (@redandright) August 23, 2023
What the heck is going on @elonmusk? https://t.co/U9loucwVNa
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) August 23, 2023
Good to see @NvrBackDown24's account is already back up and running.
— Dan K. Eberhart (@DanKEberhart) August 23, 2023
I wouldn't be surprised if the brief suspension was from DeSantis opponents spamming fake reports to get the account taken down the day of a debate. https://t.co/b2R3RXKV2l
It appears the account might be slowly regaining access, but the fact this is a possibility is concerning. Never Back Down lost at least an hour to share their critical messaging on this huge day.
Never Back Down was only temporarily suspended. The account was quickly reinstated, though with an updated follower count. Whereas the account had more than 18,000 followers before the suspension, it was in single digits after the reinstatement. Makes you think scrubbing issue… pic.twitter.com/PQyeDKKf1J
— Futurist (@americasgreat) August 23, 2023
The possible loss of followers for a crucial account is hugely concerning.
Elon promised transparency and he expressed his concern over these actions as a reason why he purchased Twitter. We need to know today and there must be repercussion.
— Jcolem (@JCitizen2023) August 23, 2023
This tweet says it all. Even if the account was quickly restored, these actions were supposed to stop under Elon. Users deserve answers and transparency.
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