Media Research Center (MRC) President Brent Bozell issued the following statement Wednesday in response to a report from Vice News that found Twitter is ‘shadow banning” prominent conservative leaders and members of Congress — impeding users’ access to their public profiles.
Following a report from Gizmodo, left-wing news site Vice News has accused Twitter of “shadow banning” right-wing personalities, politicians, and political pundits.
In a piece, Vice proclaimed in the headline, “Twitter is ‘shadow banning’ prominent Republicans like the RNC chair and Trump Jr.’s spokesman.” According to the report, searches for Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) all do not automatically fill into the search bar when users begin to look up their accounts if they do not follow those accounts. The search also reportedly fails to list the verified account for Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).
Vice noted, “Not a single member of the 78-person Progressive Caucus faces the same situation in Twitter’s search.”
A Twitter spokesperson told Vice, “We are aware that some accounts are not automatically populating in our search box and shipping a change to address this.”
Although Twitter’s statement does not indicate that Twitter is enacting any policy to crack down on conservative accounts, when pressed by Vice for why Republican-related accounts are the only ones appear to be impacted by “shadow banning,” the spokesperson said, “I’d emphasize that our technology is based on account *behavior* not the content of Tweets.”
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In April, MRC released an extensive report detailing the censorship of conservative voices by Twitter and other social media companies.
MRC President Brent Bozell:
“This is evidence that Twitter is deliberately censoring conservative voices. It seems Twitter is doing everything in its power to obstruct access to these prominent conservatives and limit the influence of their voices. As of the release of this statement, searching for certain conservative members of Congress produces parody accounts over official Twitter pages.
“Ease of access to a public figure’s profile should not be contingent on their political leaning. Twitter clearly does not have the interest of its users in mind — only its own agenda. Everyone has a right to be heard. Twitter needs to publicly explain, rectify, and apologize for this issue immediately if they want to retain any credibility among conservatives.”
MRC is spearheading Conservatives Against Online Censorship, a coalition formed earlier this year of 40 conservative organizations. For more information about Conservatives Against Online Censorship, visit: stopcensoringconservatives.com
