New Twitter rules have resulted in a global purge on hate speech.
Three major Twitter pages belonging to the English far-right group, Britain First were suspended today.
Led by an "anti-hate, pro-diversity" group known as Resisting Hate, the move was carried out as part of a global #TwitterPurge campaign.
So far, the "purge" has resulted in the removal of the ultranational political organisation's main page, and the pages belonging to its two founders, leader Paul Goulding and deputy-leader, Jayda Fransen.
https://twitter.com/ResistingHate/status/942763005179236353
On Friday, 15 December, Fransen had been released on bail in Belfast after she had appeared in court over a series of threatening remarks that she posted online. This was after she had participated in a Northern Ireland Against Terrorism rally on 6 August.
Golding was arrested at the court on Thursday, 14 December while accompanying Fransen. He was then charged "with using threatening, abusive, insulting words or behaviour" at the same rally.
The pair had recently gained international attention after
US President Donald Trump retweeted a series of inflammatory anti-Islamic posts by Fransen, containing unverified videos titled, "Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!" and "Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches."
https://twitter.com/ResistingHate/status/942760594314231808
The #TwitterPurge campaign has emerged from a new series of rules implemented by Twitter against "hateful conduct and abusive behaviour." This has resulted in some concerns among Conservative and far-right individuals and groups, many of whom believe that they could be targeted during this "purge".
https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/942756383593660416
This news has been used by a social media site, known as Gab.ai, to draw in users.
Gab.ai has advertised itself as being an alternative platform where there are no restrictions placed on hate speech.
https://twitter.com/getongab/status/942756523767341058
https://twitter.com/getongab/status/942773573063606272
Gab has approximately 300,000 users, but in light of these changes in Twitter's policy, this number is likely to rise over the coming weeks.
