Richard Spencer Back on Twitter — Ban Had Nothing To Do With Hate Speech
By Dave Goldiner December 12, 2016
Richard Spencer, the white supremacist leader of the so-called ‘alt-right,’ is Tweeting again — after Twitter reinstated his personal account.
I’m back. pic.twitter.com/ngfq4aHWtc
— Richard ? Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) December 11, 2016
It turns out the social media platform didn’t bounce Spencer, the self-described ‘Karl Marx of the alt-right,’ for spewing hatred against Jews and others and promoting a white state in America.
Actually it took action against him for the more prosaic infraction of having too many overlapping accounts.
Spencer vowed to try to get his other accounts, including @radix and @altright back up soon too. But that might be a long shot given Twitter’s code of conduct prohibiting individuals from having multiple accounts.
It wasn’t clear why Spencer was deemed to have not violated Twitter’s ban on hate speech. Several prominent alt-right leaders have been banned in recent weeks as neo-Nazis and white supremacist take on a bigger public role after the election of President-elect. Trump.
Spencer, who has earned a reputation as a skilled orator, made headlines last week when he silenced a Texas rabbi by comparing his brand of white supremacy to Zionism.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward A federal agency survey reportedly asks Barnard employees if they’re Jewish
-
Fast Forward NIH bans grants for schools that boycott Israeli companies
-
Fast Forward An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director’s embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
-
Fast Forward After outcry, Cornell president cancels pro-Palestinian performer chosen for campus concert
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
Opinion Yes, the attack on Gov. Shapiro was antisemitic. Here’s what the left should learn from it
- 4
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward A federal agency survey reportedly asks Barnard employees if they’re Jewish
-
Opinion A Palestinian leader just gave Trump an unprecedented opening to pursue peace
-
Fast Forward NIH bans grants for schools that boycott Israeli companies
-
Fast Forward An elite Jewish society at Yale fractures over its director’s embrace of Itamar Ben-Gvir
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.