Twitter suspends conservative activist who criticized 'surgical mutilation of minors'
A conservative pro-family group is accusing Twitter of suspending one of its leaders after posting a tweet denouncing the “surgical mutilation of minors suffering from gender dysphoria.”
Jon Schweppe, director of policy and government affairs with the American Principles Project, reportedly had his Twitter account suspended over the tweet posted on Tuesday. The major social media site accused him of engaging in “hateful conduct.”
Twitter’s “hateful conduct” policy states that accounts “may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”
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Schweppe’s now-deleted tweet came in response to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem championing efforts to ban biologically male trans-identified athletes from competing in girls’ sports in her state.
“Now we hope that governors will likewise be emboldened to continue the fight against the evil gender ideology being forced on America’s children by joining Arkansas and Tennessee in banning the chemical castration and surgical mutilation of minors suffering from gender dysphoria,” tweeted Schweppe.
On Wednesday evening, according to the APP, Twitter suspended Schweppe and would not reinstitute his account until he deleted the tweet, which he did.
Schweppe filed an appeal of the decision, arguing that he is “advocating for protecting children from violence.” However, his appeal was rejected because the Twitter support team “found that a violation did take place.”
In a statement emailed to supporters, APP President Terry Schilling denounced Schweppe's temporary suspension as the work of “would-be dictators in Silicon Valley.”
“Throughout most of the country, there would be little controversy in saying that children should not be the subject of procedures that sterilize and mutilate their young bodies. In fact, advocating on behalf of those procedures would be considered hateful,” stated Schilling.
“But in the screwed-up world of Twitter’s woke censors, trying to protect young kids actually constitutes hateful, violent speech. Inside their impenetrable, left-wing bubble, they cannot imagine how any reasonable person would hold these views.”
Schilling believes that it is “terrifying that people with such views hold so much power over our national discourse.” He called on Republicans in Congress to “commit to reining in the unaccountable influence of Big Tech should they regain the majority next year.”
Twitter has come under fire from conservatives and Republican elected officials for censoring right-wing views on the platform.
In August, Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado sent a letter to then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey denouncing the website’s “troubling double standard” for banning former President Donald Trump but allowing the Taliban to have accounts.
“It is clear that the Taliban is a violent organization,” wrote Lamborn, adding that he “did not find a single fact check on any of their tweets, nor any warnings for false or misleading content.”
“It is impossible to see how the accounts of [Taliban members] Zabihullah Mujahid and Yousef Ahmadi do not violate your policies.”
In late May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that allows private citizens to sue major social media companies if they believe they were wrongfully censored on a platform.
“Many in our state have experienced censorship and other tyrannical behavior firsthand in Cuba and Venezuela,” stated DeSantis earlier this year.
“If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable.”
