So many ways this can and probably will backfire against progressives and another example of how one of their "campaigns" are going to end up making it harder on everyone, liberal, conservative and moderate alike in the end.
The story:
Conservative Chris Loesch, music producer and husband of radio host and CNN contributor Dana Loesch, had his Twitter account suspended on Sunday. He was apparently targeted by leftist users who utilized the "Block & Report Spam" function to trigger the social media account's automatic spam algorithm. He was notified of his suspension via an email from Twitter claiming it was due to multiple unsolicited mentions to other users. "You will need to change your behavior to continue using Twitter," the email admonished.
"I never threatened anyone and am careful about being concise with what I write especially in public," Mr. Loesch told The Washington Times. "They were going to make me sign this note that said one more infraction and I would be permanently banned. I wasn't going to do that so I wrote emails to some of their people."
Supporters initiated by fellow conservatives Ben Howe and Jerome Hudson began sending tweets with a "#FreeChrisLoesch" hashtag. Retweets soon had it trending as one of the top 10 messages being sent in the United States. A couple of hours later, his account was reinstated only to be mysteriously suspended again within an hour. So the campaign was renewed, this time asking Twitter to "#FreeChrisLoeschAgain".
Mr. Loesch believes the spam-reporting campaign was kicked off by comments he made in defense of his wife. "It was business as usual for her I suppose," he said. "Veiled threats, rape and murder comments, the typical liberal misogynist slag. Being the chivalrous and testosterone filled being I am requires me to protect the woman I love and call out the haters for being the 'anonymous internet tough guys' they are...Needless to say they don't like being called out and struck back by reporting me as a spammer or worse."
Not an isolated incident either as many others have suffered the same problem, a list of which Twitchy provides.
It is not a matter of just believing that progressives were behind a targeted campaign, these geniuses were stupid enough to actually send out tweets announcing that they were flag spam abusing the system with the intent of causing trouble.
Several users sent out tweets bragging about getting Mr. Loesch blocked, including one claiming "my life job to make conservatives lives miserable."
Examples are listed and screenshots captured, although now someone removed the specific tweets.
if @chrisloesch is reactivated trust we will just report as spam lmaooo this funny seeing conservatives go crazy—
Menkauhor Akauhor (@stopthemadness8) April 30, 2012 29 Apr 12
The tweet was removed but the account is still active and protected.
A predictable case of not thinking before acting because the solutions that Twitter will now have to implement will end up making it harder to report real spam.
When liberals cannot argue a point, they attempt to stifle free speech.
Rusty over at The Mental Recession asks a very good question.
What part of free speech exactly do liberals continue to struggle with?
Answer: Any speech that disagrees with them.
[Update] Liberals are now trying to justify their flag spam abuse... more at Twitchy.
[Update]
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