Conservative firebrand Laura Loomer was banned from Twitter in November 2018 for calling out Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, for her overt anti-Semitism and support for female genital mutilation.
Loomer also won a recent Republican primary election for Florida’s 21st congressional district, raising questions about Twitter’s ability to stifle not just conservative platform users, but GOP candidates campaigning for public office.
Setting a dangerous precedent, the social media giant answered calls for reinstating Loomer on Thursday by doubling down on its de-platforming of the Jewish conservative activist-turned-politician.
“The account owner you referenced was permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter Rules, and we do not plan to reverse that enforcement action,” a Twitter spokesperson told Politico.
The decision marks another instance where Twitter has selectively applied its terms of service policies to fit the company’s left-wing political leanings.
Last month, HeadlineUSA reported that leaked screenshots from inside the Silicon Valley company show how Twitter moderators are able to blacklist conservatives from searches and trends, as well as “shadow ban” conservative influencers to limit their reach.
The screenshots show admin-account features that include tags called “Trends Blacklist” and “Search Blacklist.”
Twitter’s insistence on banning Loomer also contradicts its public position of relaxed enforcement rules for politicians and popular figures based on a professed desire to support an open discourse on current affairs.
Consequently, terrorist leaders, Antifa, left-wing groups calling for violent revolution, and Holocaust-denying world leaders like Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are able to use Twitter, while Loomer — a legitimate candidate for Congress — cannot.
Several weeks ago, Twitter refused to remove tweets from Khamenei that called for the genocide of the Israeli people while simultaneously censoring tweets from President Donald Trump.
Loomer has also been banned from other Silicon Valley tech giants, like Facebook, Instagram, Uber, Lyft, PayPal, Venmo, and Medium, among others.
But those bans may now be in violation of campaign finance laws.
According to the American Principles Project (APP), a conservative think tank based out of Arlington, Va., Silicon Valley social media companies are not allowing Loomer to promote her legitimate campaign functions due to “capricious biased censorship,” which may constitute a form of election interference.
“Under normal circumstances, it would arguably be well within those companies’ rights to take this action. But given that Loomer is now a major party nominee for U.S. Congress, a reassessment may be warranted,” the group wrote in a letter to the Federal Election Commission.
“Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram would appear to pay all costs associated with the hosting and distribution on their platforms of election-related materials created by the political campaign of Rep. Lois Frankel. They refuse to provide the same service for her opponent,” the APP stated, suggesting that this may be illegal.
Following her Tuesday GOP primary victory, President Trump tweeted, “Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!”
Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet! https://t.co/pKZp35dUYr
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2020
But despite raising important social media censorship issues regarding the new so-called online public square, Loomer has a steep uphill climb to defeat the district’s progressive incumbent Democrat, Rep. Lois Frankel.
Democrats have a 17.5-point voter registration advantage over Republicans in the district, and Frankel won reelection in 2016 by more than 25 points and ran unopposed in 2018.
Still, President Trump, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, and Republican operative Roger Stone, among others, enthusiastically support Loomer.
