A few days ago, The Federalist’s Sean Davis asked a question based on a Lisa Page transcript he tweeted that wasn’t visible to his followers:
Is @Twitter experimenting with shadow bans by deleting tweets so others can't see them, but keeping them visible to you while you're logged in? I had to re-publish my original Lisa Page transcript tweet because it was disappeared to everyone but me. pic.twitter.com/RugtpK2MYn
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) March 12, 2019
Almost a week later, the mystery is solved with the help of an email from Twitter:
Twitter confirmed to me today via e-mail that it did shadowban one of my tweets about Lisa Page's congressional testimony in order to "keep people safe[.]" Twitter deliberately deleted the tweet/URL, yet kept it visible for me when I was logged in so I'd think it was still up. pic.twitter.com/Hs1z7H0xJn
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) March 18, 2019
Twitter’s email to Davis said it was a mistake that was made out of an abundance of caution because heaven forbid people read that testimony:
Titter claimed in its e-mail to me that it "mistakenly remove[d]" a completely anodyne tweet about public congressional testimony, but didn't explain why it left the tweet–and metrics showing no engagement–visible to me when logged in. Is conning users a bug, or a feature? pic.twitter.com/bqtc8Klcam
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) March 18, 2019
Twitter gave me no notice or explanation when it shadowbanned one of my Tweets about Russian interference in our elections. But what's worse is how Twitter apparently gives its users the fraudulent impression that their tweets, which Twitter secretly bans, are still public.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) March 18, 2019
Nothing is surprising.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) March 18, 2019
.@Twitter confirms censorship of Page testimony tweet. https://t.co/pdqU2exxxn
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) March 18, 2019
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Glad to know I’m being kept safe from information. That could lead to independent thought. We don’t want any of that around here, it just complicates thing.
— Shaun Peoples ? GDC ? (@ShaunPeoples) March 18, 2019
“Keep people safe” = “Censor what they see” https://t.co/9Eg5bOhuTw
— Dr. Poppy Daniels (@drpoppyBHRT) March 18, 2019
Nothing you’ll read today is as important as this. https://t.co/L1X1VGsETL
— SteveAustinWI (@SteveAustinWI) March 18, 2019
If it was truly a *safety* issue, why do it in a covert way?! https://t.co/zBrG4AGoGZ
— Lee Doren (@LDoren) March 18, 2019
Interesting we never hear these complaints about Twitter shadowbanning with deep regard for safety the Left with their punch-a-Nazi-and-every-conservatives-a-Nazi POTUS assassination fantasies.
— Razor (@hale_razor) March 18, 2019
They do seem to have their priorities.